


there's a fire in your eyes

by bisexualbarry



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Battle, Bisexual Peter Parker, Firebending & Firebenders, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, High School, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Pining, School Dances, Slow Burn, Spideypool Big Bang 2019, Twilight References, Vampires, Wade Wilson Breaking the Fourth Wall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22881199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualbarry/pseuds/bisexualbarry
Summary: When Peter moved to a boring town in Maine, he thought his life would be normal. Instead, he’s now being stalked by a creepy man with a wicked plan. Even after escaping him once already, Peter can’t go anywhere without feeling eyes on him.Cue Wade, a man who's a mystery from the start who has weird injuries that seem to heal right before Peter's eyes. Along with him comes a ragtag family that don’t quite seem to match. The biggest reality check, though? Vampires are real and they live amongst humans.Now Peter has to try his best not to get kidnapped (again) by an evil vampire who’s trying to assemble his own group of elemental controlling vampires. And Peter happens to have a very fiery presence.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 79
Collections: Spideypool Big Bang - The 2019 Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY SHIT
> 
> this is my first big bang that ive ever done so this entire process has been a bit nerve-wrecking for me, lmao. but everyone in the isn't it bromantic server are AMAZING and im happy to have been able to wiggle a little place for myself there
> 
> many many MANY thanks to my betas [karma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatical) and [nirlan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dat_Fandom_Losertown/pseuds/Dat_Fandom_Losertown) for whom are both amazing and helped smooth this baby out. i can't thank them ENOUGH
> 
> and finally, the BIGGEST thank you to the lovely [lumin](https://luminspidey.tumblr.com) who made the gorgeous art for the fic. im still in awe of it, ngl. he's amazing, GO FOLLOW HIM
> 
> enjoy!

The landscape rolls past the windows in a blurring haze. Peter can feel his eyelids drooping more and more the further they travel. May’s sat next to him driving, humming along quietly to the music filtering through the old radio. It had been May’s idea to move out to a small town in Maine, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. It had to do with her job, she told him at the time, and she didn’t have much of a choice. Still, however, she was a bit excited to get away from the thick smog and loud noises.

They’ve been in the car all day. May wants to get as far as she can while there’s still enough sun poking out over the horizon. Peter’s supposed to be asleep, catching any sleep he can before it’s his turn to drive through the night. They’ve had to make a few stops to stretch and eat before they were back on the road.

As if reading his mind, May speaks up. “You’re supposed to be sleeping, young man,” she chastises him lightly. It causes the corner of his mouth to quirk up slightly. “I won’t be driving this whole trip when you’re perfectly capable.”

“May, I  _ just _ got my license.” Peter sits up and shoots her a playful grin. “For all you know, I could’ve gotten it because they got tired of seeing me there retaking my test.”

May laughs. “Oh, I can believe that.” She taps lightly on the steering wheel. “We’re nearly there, anyway. Shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours. You should still get some sleep, though.”

Fondly rolling his eyes, Peter settles into a more comfortable position and closes his eyes. Thankfully, the motion of the car easily lulls him to sleep.

**~*~**

The house May is renting for the year sits a mile from the high school. The yellow siding faded to a dull near-white, making the house look sad amongst the liveliness of the surrounding foliage. The steps of the front porch sag, and the bottom one is broken in the middle. The deck had seen better days, but it could support the weight of the porch swing. Overall, it was in a good enough condition for what they needed.

“It needs some love,” May says from next to him. Peter barely manages to hide a grimace. “Oh, don’t look so doom and gloom. We’ll only be here for a bit. You’ll be able to graduate from the high school here.”

“I hope the ceiling doesn’t fall on me during the night,” Peter remarks, shrinking a little under the stern look he receives from his aunt.

May drops the look and sighs. “I know you don’t want to be here, Pete. But, please, at least try to look on the bright side, alright? I know you also hate the constant moving, but at least we’ll be here for the rest of your schooling.”

Peter manages a small smile. “You’re right, May. I’m sorry I’m being a bit of a downer.”

May rubs his back. “It’s alright. Help me unload the boxes from the car, will you? I don’t want to leave them in here overnight.”

“I thought you said the country was safer than the city.”

May huffs a laugh. “Brat.”

School the next day is a bit of a blur. Constant introductions happen every class, and the other students in the building treat him like a new exhibit in a museum. He wishes Harry was around so he could crack a joke about paying a fee to stare at him. It causes a pang of longing to go through him before he quickly dismisses the thought.

Peter’s sitting alone at lunch. Despite the constant attention on him, nobody wants to sit by him. Even in the country, there are cliques in school. Stabbing a piece of chicken a bit too hard, Peter frowns to himself, wishing he was back in New York City.

“Excuse me? Is anybody else sitting here?”

Peter looks up and meets the brown eyes of a guy from his chemistry class, and a girl from his art history. Ned and MJ, if he remembers right. “Uh, no,” he answers, blinking away the fog in his brain. “Take the chairs, if you need to.”

“No, uh. We were wondering if we could sit with you,” Ned continues. “You just look a bit lonely over here by yourself.”

Peter chuckles. “Be my guest, then.”

The two of them sit down in a couple chairs across from him. Peter’s nose wrinkles a bit as the chairs scrape noisily against the old linoleum flooring. MJ immediately puts her nose into a book, the school’s library tag sitting half torn off on the bottom of its spine.

“So, you’re from the city. That must be cool,” Ned says, catching Peter’s attention once more. “Must really be different than here.”

“Oh, tons.” Peter drops his fork onto the tray, letting out a sigh. The food quality is awful. His old school’s wasn’t any better, though. “There’s a lot of fresh air here, it’s weird.”

Ned laughs, causing Peter to smile in turn. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”

They fall into a bit of an awkward silence. MJ continues reading while Peter and Ned seem to struggle with what else to say. It’s saved when a group of teenagers shuffle into the cafeteria, catching the attention of quite a few people.

“What’s the deal with them?” Peter asks, quirking an eyebrow at the ragtag group of people.

“They moved here last week,” MJ answers without looking up from what she’s reading. “They keep to themselves a lot, though, and people are nosy.”

“Oh, so more new museum exhibits?” Peter mutters to himself. Ned gives him an odd look, but doesn’t comment on it. “How come they keep to themselves?”

Ned shrugs. “They’re all adopted kids, last I heard. That’s a bit of a weird thing around here, I guess.”

“I’m being raised by my aunt. No wonder I stick out.” Peter bites his bottom lip as he watches them a moment. There’s a blond male with a long scar going down the right side of his face who turns and meets Peter’s eyes. Peter freezes in his seat before quickly looking away with a slight blush. “I’m going to try and find my next class while there’s still a bit of time to explore. It was nice meeting you two.”

It’s a week later that he officially meets the other new kids. It’s not on purpose, though. He’s on his way into the school when one, quite literally, drops right in front of him.

Peter blinks as he stares at the fallen man a moment before moving to help him stand. When he gets a good look at his face, he realises it’s the blond from the cafeteria.

“Are you alright?” His eyes scan over the other teenager, noticing a large scrape on his left arm. The sleeve of the grey hoodie was torn, revealing a deep gasp underneath. “Holy shit. That might need stitches.”

The teen looks at it and shrugs. “I’ve had worse. I’m Wade, by the way.”

Peter opens and closes his mouth a few times. “How are you not more concerned? You just  _ fell out of a tree _ .”

“I get scrapes all the time. Seriously, it’s no biggie.” As he says it, he pulls the fabric of the torn hoodie sleeve over the bleeding wound more, hiding it from Peter’s line of sight. “Seriously, Bambi, it’s fine.”

“My name is Peter, not Bambi.” Peter tries taking a look at the wound again, but Wade puts his arm behind his back. “Seriously, Wade. You’ll probably have to go to the hospital.”

“If I promise to get it checked out, will you stop worrying?”

“Yes,” Peter answers immediately.

Wade frowns, but nods anyway. “Alright. I’ll be on my way, then.”

They have a staring contest for a moment, Peter getting lost in how blue Wade’s eyes are. He finds that he likes looking into them. “You should, uh. Get going, then,” he finally manages to get out.

“Yeah.” Wade blinks and clears his throat. “Right, yeah. See you later then, Bambi.”

Peter huffs, watching as Wade walks away, hopefully to the nearest clinic to get his arm looked at.

**~*~**

“Your arm is completely healed.”

Peter watches as Wade jumps from the sudden noise, spinning around in the library chair to stare wide eyed at the seventeen-year-old. There are snickers from the others at the table, and it’s only belatedly that he realises Wade’s brothers and sisters sitting at the table with him. He shoots them all an apologetic smile before focusing back on Wade. The blond had shed his sweater soon after entering the library. The school was always blasting the heat whenever there was the slightest chill outside. It’s boiling in the library.

Wade is wearing a red shirt, and it leaves little to the imagination. Multiple scars cover his skin, and Peter can’t help but wonder where many of them came from. Most importantly, however, is the area where Peter saw the gash from a few days prior on Wade’s arm.

“Dude, that was a nasty cut. There’s no way it should be gone by now. I’ve had papercuts last longer than that,” Peter says, gesturing ever-so-helpfully at Wade’s arm.

Wade makes a strange noise before pulling his sweater back on. “I told you I got it looked at,” he excuses.

Peter gives him a flat look. “Okay, be that as it may, it doesn’t explain how it was able to heal so quickly.”

Wade stands up abruptly, causing Peter to take a step back in surprise. The other says something to his siblings before grabbing his stuff and stalking off. Peter being Peter, of course, follows him.

“Why are you avoiding the question? It’s a medical miracle!” Peter struggles to keep up with Wade’s large steps, but somehow manages to keep a close enough distance.

Peter nearly runs into Wade when the taller boy suddenly stops and spins on his heel to look at Peter. “Look, Bambi, you’re cute and all, but I’m not into stalkers. So if you could kindly-”

“Hey, Peter!”

Peter turns and sees MJ jogging to catch up with him. There’s a textbook in her hands, and if it’s what he’s thinking, he  _ really _ wishes she would return it to him another day.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your chem book,” MJ says, handing it over to him. “I found mine buried under a pile of my sister’s clothes.”

“Yeah, anytime,” Peter replies, distracted. He turns to talk to Wade again, but is disappointed when he finds the hallway empty of the other male. MJ is still waiting next to him, watching him curiously as he scans the hall in hopes of seeing the person he wanted to talk to.

“Peter? Are you okay?”

Shoulders slumping, Peter just nods. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. Thanks for returning this, MJ. I’m glad you were able to find yours.”

MJ’s eyes scan Peter’s for a minute before she gives him a small smile. “Yeah, of course.”

Peter tries to act like the whole incident isn’t weird as hell. He really does. And it works for a while, even his science-led brain that needs him to figure it out lets him have some peace for a time. Every time Peter looks over at Wade, he remembers the way the arm had a nasty looking cut one day, and nothing there the next. Not even a scar!

He must wear his frustration on his face because May easily calls him out on it. “Hey, brainy, you aren’t thinking too hard over there, are you?”

Blinking, Peter looks up and over at where May is rolling out dough for homemade chicken noodle soup. She makes the noodles by hand, and it’s one of the best things that Peter has ever eaten. “Yeah, m’fine.” He sighs, and sits up in his chair. Moving makes him realise he’s been sitting at the dining room table for far too long. His calculus homework sits completed in front of him. Peter can’t remember when he finished it. “Still adjusting to everything, you know?”

May tuts lightly. “I know, Pete. But this town will be good for the both of us. The fresh air is good for the lungs.” She pauses her movements to look over at her nephew in concern. “I’m going to be blunt, Peter, but you need a life.”

“I have one!” Peter replies in shock. May looks like she doesn’t believe him. Which, granted, from her perspective, he wouldn’t believe him either. “I’ve made friends, May. I… do well in school. What more is there?”

“You’re a teenager, and you barely leave the house,” she drawls. “Aren’t you supposed to be, I don’t know, sneaking out or something?”

Peter snorts. “That’s never been me, Aunt May. Besides, there isn’t really a lot here to sneak out to. I highly doubt that the old theatre is open during ‘sneaking out’ hours anyway.”

Wiping her hands with a towel on the counter, May shakes her head. “Didn’t you mention this school is holding a winter dance or something in a couple months? Why don’t you ask MJ as your date?”

“Aunt May, I don’t need a romantic life to be social. Besides, we might be moving back to the city after I graduate. What’s the point of going into a romantic relationship if I’m just going to move again?”

A chair scrapes soundlessly against the old wood flooring. May must’ve gotten pads for the bottom of the chairs one day without Peter noticing. They used to scratch noisily. She gently tucks a loose curl behind his ear. “Peter, I’m just worried about you, okay? I know moving all the time isn’t easy for you, and I’m sorry I’ve had to drag you around. But this time, we’re staying the full school year. Enjoy being a teenager in the meantime. You turn eighteen this spring, but you’ve been an adult since Ben died. Live a little.”

Peter sighs softly, though he manages a small smile for his aunt. “Alright. I’ll ask MJ to the dance. But if she says no, don’t be disappointed.”

When he does ask MJ, she’s shy to reply. She accepts with rose tinted cheeks and a gentle smile. Peter feels guilty for the way he doesn’t have the usual nerves accompanied by asking someone out. MJ seems happy, so Peter swallows the guilt and they move onto another topic.

Peter’s studying at MJ’s with Ned. Try as he might, he still can’t get the idea out of his head about Wade. May always tells him he needs to let things go more often; let sleeping dogs lie.

There’s a textbook laying on the ground in front of him, a notebook open to a blank page next to him, and a pen twirling in between his fingers. They’ve been studying for close to an hour, but Peter is still on the first page of the chapter, and his notebook remains empty. In the back of his mind, he knows he’ll be mad at himself later for not studying when he had the time. In the current moment, though, his brain is miles away on a completely different topic.

“Hey, nerd, how come you aren’t writing anything down?” MJ asks, breaking through the intense daydream Peter concocted in his brain.

Instead of answering her question, he brings up a different one to the both of them: “What else do you guys know about Wade and his family?”

There’s a brief moment when Ned and MJ just stare at Peter blankly before either of them move. Clearly, they weren’t expecting the question that tumbled from Peter’s lips.

“Dude, they only got to school not long before you,” Ned eventually answers. He’s happy to answer Peter’s questions about the town, but Peter knew Ned felt uneasy when it came to Wade. “I don’t really know much more than you do.”

“They keep to themselves a lot,” MJ says with a shrug. “I think his sisters do some karate program in town, but I’m not really sure. Why are you asking?”

Peter swallows thickly, forcing himself to look back at the notebook. “Just curious, I guess,” is what he replies with. He tries to read, but his brain isn’t processing any of the words. Out of the corner of his eye, he can still feel MJ watching him, but she eventually goes back to her notes. Peter lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

**~*~**

Snow arrives late-November. The forecast shows it won’t stop coming down for a few hours, blanketing everything in a thick layer of white. Peter guesses it won’t be here this time next week, but in the meantime, he enjoys the way it falls around him. May had expressed immense joy that morning at seeing everything covered in snow. Unlike in the city, the snow stays white, instead of turning into a grey mush. That would still happen later, of course, but Peter could enjoy it for the time being.

There’s still ten minutes before the first bell rings. Peter spends the time he has outside, staring up at the clouds. At one point, he sticks his tongue out, nose scrunching in amusement as he’s able to catch a few of the snowflakes.

“I didn’t think people still did that,” a voice says from next to him.

Peter turns his head, unsurprised to find Wade standing there watching him in amusement. “It’s fun,” he gives as explanation before going back to it.

Wade laughs, but doesn’t say anything else. When Peter looks, he’s also got his tongue out to catch snowflakes. Peter wishes he had his camera to capture the way the sun is starting to peek out from behind the horizon, shining bits of light onto them both. The early morning sun treats Wade well. Even with the scars on his body, Peter can’t help but find him captivating. The strong jawline to the rough looking lips, and the bright blue eyes that reel him in. Wade’s blond hair is sticking out all over the place under a black beanie. Peter can’t help but grin when he notices the bright red ball on the tip of it.

“I like your hat,” he tells him. “Although, I’d have gone with blue rather than black.”

“That’s what you usually say,” Wade quips, earning an odd look from Peter. “Never mind, Bambi. Here.” Wade slips off the hat and slides it onto Peter’s head. Peter left his own at home, and the tips of his ears were bright red. “Wouldn’t want you catching a cold, now would we?”

“Wade, I can’t take your hat.” Peter reaches up to take it off, but Wade blocks the attempt.

“I don’t mind, bubble butt. Seriously. The cold doesn’t bother me.” There’s an odd look in Wade’s eyes that Peter can’t place. He shakes it off.

“Thank you,” Peter says softly, adjusting the hat a little so it fit more comfortably on his head. Biting his lip, he just stands there before awkwardly making his way into the school. When he glances over his shoulder, he finds Wade watching him. A blush rises on his cheeks, and he shuffles into the building.

“Peter, you’re here later than normal,” Ned says, sliding up next to Peter as they walk in the hall.

“Well hello to you, too, Ned,” Peter jokes, smiling at the boy so he knows Peter isn’t actually mad. “I was outside this whole time. Enjoying the snowfall.”

“Flash and some of his buddies are planning a snowball fight during lunch period.”

“It’ll stop snowing by then.” Peter opens his locker and shoves his backpack into the small space. Having that weight off his shoulders felt better already. “Even if it does stick, if people already know about it, staff knows too and will put an end to it.” He doesn’t take off the hat that he knows Ned’s dying to ask about. Instead, he grabs the books he needs and shuts his locker. 

“The library should be a safe zone,” MJ says, appearing out of nowhere. Peter yelps a bit, and both MJ and Ned giggle quietly. “Seriously, though. Flash and his gang will be outside the cafeteria for it.”

“You still have to pass them to get to the building with the cafeteria in it,” Ned points out. “They’re pretty much setting it up so everyone gets hit. I’ll be lucky if I’m mostly dry eating lunch today.”

“We’ll be fine, Ned. Don’t worry about it so much.”

Peter regrets those words as he tries to make his way into the cafeteria building. MJ is in the library, snacking on an apple and some carrot sticks as she hid away from the chaos that was currently happening. Ned is probably somewhere else, or already in the cafeteria, if Peter has to guess. Flash is standing near the door, making it nearly impossible for anyone to get through.

Snowballs are flying every which way in the small area between buildings. Peter’s nose is cold, and even with Wade’s hat still on, he’s freezing. He’s eyeing one of the paths into the cafeteria and wondering if he would be able to make it there in a quick sprint when someone is sliding up next to him.

“That Flash kid is annoying,” Wade states, eyes narrowing a bit as he watches the madness unfold. “We should dump snow down his pants.”

“No, Wade.” Peter huffs out a breath, but it ends up coming out as more of a laugh. The corners of his mouth quirk slightly as he turns to look up at Wade. “Your hat is very warm, you know.”

Wade smiles, messing with the pom pom attached to the hat. “It looks better on you than it did on me.”

Blushing lightly, Peter turns back to face the crowd. His stomach chooses that moment to rumble loudly, causing Peter’s blush to darken.

“C’mon, munchkin, I’ll help you through.”

Peter opens his mouth to retort that he’s not  _ that _ short, but the hand on the small of his back feels very warm. His focus zooms in on that, and Peter’s face is still bright red as they trudge through the snow. They make it inside and Peter looks over to see Wade sopping wet while he stands there mostly dry.

“Holy shit, did they pelt you with those things?” Peter asks in shock, trying his best to brush the snow off of Wade.

“Hey, you’re all dry, though.” Wade shrugs like he doesn’t care, but won’t meet Peter’s eyes. Behind him, the rest of Wade’s family filter in, snickering at how soaked Wade is from the short trip.

“Yeah, thank you,” Peter mutters, his hands brushing snow off Wade slow down as he gazes up at the other teen.

“Peter, there you are.” Ned walks over to him with a smile. “I thought you were with MJ in the library and forgot to let me know.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I, uh. Just ran into Wade. Got to talking and stuff, you know.”

Ned nods, giving Wade a small smile before leading Peter away to their table. “I was going to ask you if you and MJ plan on going in matching colors for the winter dance. Betty and I can’t decide if we want to, or if that’s purely a prom type of thing.”

“Oh, right. I completely forgot about the dance,” Peter says awkwardly. “I don’t think MJ and I are color matching, but we’re probably not trying to, like, clash.” He stands in line with Ned to get food, feeling a weird sense of disappointment wash over him at the reminder of the dance. He cares about MJ, and he knows she’s at least somewhat looking forward to going. She won’t ever admit it, but Peter knows. He can’t back out last minute on her like that.

Don’t get him wrong, MJ’s a great girl. Anybody would be lucky to date her. Even after asking her out, he knew there wouldn’t be anything deeper between them. He’s more than willing to try, though, even if he doesn’t want to hurt MJ’s feelings in any way.

Peter’s on his way home when he spots Wade leaning against the same tree he fell out of a few weeks prior. He’s dried off since lunchtime, but Peter wouldn’t be surprised if Wade showed up to school next week with a cold. The snow is still cold enough that Peter’s able to scoop up a decent sized snowball in between his gloved hands. Wade’s none-the-wiser and appears lost in thought, even as Peter stands not too far away from him. Even though he doesn’t have the best aim, Peter throws the snowball at Wade, snickering when it hits him in the arm, completely startling him.

“Oh, it’s on, sweet cheeks.”

Laughing loudly, the two of them chase each other around the courtyard of the school. The other students who are slowly trickling out stare at them weirdly, but avoid them so they don’t get hit. By the time Peter’s gloves are thoroughly soaked, cheeks red from laughter and running, everybody who isn’t in an after school activity is gone. Wade’s own cheeks are pink from laughter, but he doesn’t appear the slightest bit cold. Even with Peter still wearing his hat, he looks like the cold doesn’t even bother him.

“I know this coffee shop nearby that has the best hot chocolate,” Wade says, stepping closer to him. “Ness and I found it the other week when we were strolling through town. Wanna get some?”

Peter smiles at the taller. “Yeah, sure. My aunt’s working late tonight, anyway. She isn’t expecting me at home.”

Wade’s smile turns into a bit of a smirk as they start their trek to the coffee shop. It doesn’t take them too long, and Peter smiles as he looks around. The shop isn’t anything big. A few tables that scatter out into the front where a small patio sits. There’s a long wooden counter at the back with an employees-only door leading to the back. Peter imagines the back can’t be too big, seeing as the lobby takes up most of the space. The items and prices are written out on four chalkboards hanging above the counter, most of them containing multiple coffees and fruit smoothies.

Peter smiles and runs his hand absentmindedly against the blue wall, taking in the homey feel of it all. There’s a small glass display of different pastry treats, which is currently being refilled by a girl from Peter’s calculus class. There’s a hand on his back again, once more causing Peter to zero in on the feeling as he’s gently pushed towards the counter to order.

“Two hot chocolates and one chocolate chip muffin, please,” Wade orders, causing Peter to blink up at him in surprise. “Don’t worry, Bambi. The muffin’s to share.”

“Wade, I can pay for myself,” Peter protests.

“I know.” Wade gives him a smile. “It’s just a friend paying for a friend, Petey Pie, don’t worry about it. You can get it next time.”

Peter smiles at the prospect of Wade wanting to keep spending time with him. He’s still curious about Wade’s quickly healing arm, but he isn’t going to push it when Wade’s willing to spend time with him.

Once they get their drinks and muffin, they sit down at a table in the corner. Wade faces the rest of the coffee shop with his back to the wall. Peter quirks a curious eyebrow, but doesn’t comment on it as he blows on his coffee and takes a sip. It’s just as delicious as Wade promised.

“So, uh. Why’d you move here to Maine?” Peter asks, tearing a small piece of muffin off to nimble on.

“I could ask you the same thing, you know,” Wade teases, smiling easily. “And Logan wanted some new scenery, I guess. He’s the bastard who adopted all of us. Likes lugging us around from place to place.”

Raising an eyebrow, Peter pauses from where he was taking another sip. “Should you even be speaking about the man who took you in like that?”

Wade snorts. “Logan  _ is _ a bastard. I’m thankful for everything he’s done for all of us, but that’s just his personality.” He shrugs and takes a long sip of his hot chocolate. “It’s your turn to answer the question now, sweet thang.”

Peter can’t help but roll his eyes. “My aunt’s work moved here for the year. Her job has her moving a lot, actually, but she’s managed to make sure I was here to graduate. Which is definitely a bonus.” Peter picks at the muffin some more. “So, um. What is your family like?”

Wade freezes for a fraction of a second. If Peter hadn’t been paying attention to the other male, he might’ve missed it. “They’re alright,” he answers carefully. “Ness and Dom like to tease the shit out of me for, like, everything. Pietro’s alright, I guess. Ellie and Yukio keep to themselves a lot, but they’re pretty cool.”

Peter waits for more from Wade, but when nothing comes, he deflates a little. “It’s just my aunt and I,” he offers, pleased with himself when Wade perks up a bit. “My parents died when I was young, and then my uncle died when I was fourteen. Since then, it’s just been May and I. Which is why I move around with her, you know? I don’t want her by herself.”

“You’re a good guy, Pete,” Wade says honestly, smiling as Peter blushes under the compliment. “Seriously. Most guys your age wouldn’t want to keep moving around all the time with their aunt.”

Smiling, Peter looks down at his phone and curses softly. “I need to get home. May got out earlier than she thought. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure. Here, hand me your phone. I’ll put my number in.” Wade accepts the phone and types something quickly into a new contact. His own phone dings a second before he’s handing the phone back to its owner. “Texted myself so I’d have yours. Do you need me to walk you home?”

“No, no. Uh, it’s only a short walk. Thank you for the hot chocolate and the muffin, though.” Peter shuffles awkwardly a moment and gives Wade a small smile before heading out the door. He sees Wade still watching him through the window as he leaves.

May’s already cooking by the time Peter walks through the door. He kisses her cheek in greeting before hanging his coat up on the rack and toeing his shoes off somewhere near the door.

“New hat?” she asks, quirking an eyebrow as he glances over at him curiously.

Blushing, Peter takes the hat off and rushes it into his room to lay somewhere before coming back. May has a knowing look on her face when he returns. “Borrowed it from a friend and forgot to give it back,” he tells her, pulling out his homework as he sits at the table. “Plus, I left mine at home, so.”

May hums like she doesn’t believe him. Which, granted, she probably doesn’t. “Why were you so late today?”

“Oh, I was with a friend. There’s this coffee shop in town, and he wanted me to try their hot chocolate.” They’re both silent for a moment, concentrating on what’s in front of them. It doesn’t take long before Peter’s breaking it. “May, what should I do if I don’t, like, completely know how to feel about someone?”

“In what sense?”

“Um, in a friendly way. He’s been pretty nice to me so far, but he still seems… distant. If that makes sense.”

Turning the burner on low, May lets whatever she’s cooking simmer while she sits on a chair next to him. “Is this about the friend you were just with?”

“Yeah. His name’s Wade, and he and his family moved here a week before we did. I don’t think he liked me very much at first, but now he’s wanting to be my friend. He’s even the one who leant me his hat.” Peter taps his pencil on the table for a minute before dropping it completely to run his hands over his face. “I don’t know, Aunt May. He seems nice, but…”

“Why don’t you just talk to him more?” May asks, confused. “You’ll never know a person until you talk to them. Even if Wade didn’t like you at first, he seems willing to like you now. What’s there to be confused about?”

“Well when you put it that way, it makes sense,” Peter mutters to himself, unable to help the smile that fills his face when May laughs in response. “We exchanged numbers today, I can always text him to start getting to know him better and whatnot.”

“You kids and your phones,” May teases, kissing Peter’s forehead before heading back into the kitchen.

Later on that night, he does exactly what he said he would. He ends up falling asleep while still texting the other teen, a sleepy soft smile playing on his lips.

~*~

“I’ve got to admit, I’ve never been to one of these,” Peter says, looking around at the tacky snow decorations and dressed up high schoolers. “What’s the purpose of it?”

“Just an excuse to get dressed up,” MJ explains. “It’s actually rather stupid.”

“Then why did you agree to go with me?” Peter asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

MJ looks away from him then, cheeks lightly dusted pink. She gets a reprieve from answering when Ned and Betty walk up to them. “You guys look dope.”

“Thanks,” Betty says happily, her light blue dress complimenting her nicely. Ned’s wearing a tie in a similar shade, making Peter snicker quietly to himself at the realisation they ended up going matching. “The drinks aren’t going to be spiked, are they?”

“They shouldn’t be. Mr. Harrington’s keeping a pretty close eye on them.” Peter looks over to where a gangly looking teacher is standing near the refreshments table. He’s dressed in a slightly tacky brown suit, and talking the ear off of another bored looking teacher. “He looks pretty serious.”

MJ snorts from next to him, making Peter feel better that she wasn’t as uncomfortable being there as he was starting to believe. “He has the likelihood of stopping someone as much as Flash has of passing APUSH.”

Peter’s smiling at her when he looks over his shoulder to see Wade and his family walking in. Wade’s wearing black dress pants that nicely accent his rear. The shirt he has on is a deep shade of red, clinging to his chest and arms like they’re about to pop the seams. The way he’s dressed makes Peter suddenly wish he went with Wade instead. Wade even pulled his messy blond hair into a more tangible look.

“Hey, Pete, I like this song. Come dance with me?” MJ’s voice is soft and shy, something unlike what he’s heard from her before. She must be nervous, he figures, though he doesn’t understand why. They’ve danced before in her living room, getting tips from her parents on how to slow dance. She had been laughing and joking then, enjoying the way Peter has a tendency to stumble over his own feet.

It’s weird, he thinks, but not wholly unwelcome.

The dance floor is smaller than it looks at first glance. There are other couples dancing to the song playing through the speakers of the DJ booth. Peter doesn’t recognize the song, but if MJ likes it, then he may listen to it at a later point. MJ looks hesitant, but wraps her arms around his neck anyway, giving him a shy smile as they slowly move. His own hands are gently on her waist, the heat of her skin seeping through the material of her dress.

She’s wearing yellow tonight, and it looks beautiful on her. The floral pattern of it goes all the way up to her breasts where it fades into a plain white. MJ isn’t wearing any jewelry other than a random bracelet, and a minimal amount of makeup. She doesn’t seem to mind the fact Peter’s only wearing black pants and white dress shirt with a black jacket thrown overtop. He feels underdressed compared to some of the other guys there, but dancing with MJ, he doesn’t find it in himself to care.

“When you asked me out, I had my doubts,” she admits, smiling a little. “I thought you only asked me out because I’m the only girl willing to talk to you.” She laughs when Peter looks offended. “You’re a great guy, Pete. I, um. I kinda like you. You know… more than I thought I would.”

Peter’s brain doesn’t seem to compute the words. Before they got there, Peter was wondering if should even bother going. He suddenly feels like he’s stringing her along.

Instead of doing the right thing, and possibly politely turning her down by telling her how he feels, he leans forward and presses his lips to hers. It’s awkward, and they both pull away after trying to coordinate with one another. MJ’s blushing a bit, but she looks happy. If she’s happy, he supposes, he’ll keep his lips shut for the time being. Besides, MJ’s a great girl. He’s sure that, in time, he’ll be able to reciprocate the feelings.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Wade walking onto the floor with his sister Vanessa. He can’t see much from his perspective, but he thinks their heads are close to one another’s so they hear each other over the music. After some movement, Peter sees them straight on, and Wade looks like he’s upset over something. Defeated, almost. Not wanting to pry further, Peter turns his head back to MJ.

To his dismay, the punch does end up getting spiked. One student easily distracted Mr. Harrington, and another poured in the alcohol. It isn’t like Peter hasn’t drank before, but he was hoping May wouldn’t lecture him about it the following morning.

Both he and MJ have enough to feel tipsy. Peter’s face feels hot and his limbs feel looser. His nose keeps itching something fierce, so to distract himself, he does the first thing he can think of: kiss MJ. It’s messy and wet, but she’s happily keeping along with it. Peter keeps giggling about something or another against her lips, and she’s laughing back. Peter forgets about Wade as he learns to kiss MJ under the strings of Christmas lights and blue and white balloons.

Monday morning is a weird experience, even from the moment he first stepped foot into the building. He doesn’t know how to explain it, but he’s sure today will end with a migraine. Peter can only hope he hasn’t run out of Tylenol.

Wade hasn’t answered his texts all weekend, and Peter has yet to spot him in any of his usual hangout spots. There’s an uncomfortable feeling settling in his stomach, and he hopes he can just make it through the day in one piece. By lunch, he can already feel the familiar licks of a headache coming on.

“Dude, your kiss with MJ at the dance was off the charts,” Ned teases, sliding into his usual seat next to Peter. “Someone caught it on video and posted it to Snapchat. MJ’s been grumbling about it all day.”

Peter slumps in his seat. Exactly what he  _ didn’t _ want to hear. “Well, that explains why Betty gave me a thumbs up this morning.”

“Dude, she’s been rooting for you two since you asked MJ to the dance.”

“Betty’s more invested in my love life than I am,” MJ says as an announcement to her presence, sitting down in her own usual spot. “Which is kind of weird, if you ask me. I have such a small one.”

“Hey, now that you two are together, we should totally double date!” Ned says excitedly, missing the shy looks between Peter and MJ.

“Let me take my girlfriend on a date first before we think about doubling the amount of people,” Peter tells Ned, noticing the way MJ smiled at his words.

After lunch, Peter’s walking MJ to her next class. It’s started to snow, and she has a long walk to building C, where her French class is. Peter’s still wearing Wade’s hat, and he’s told MJ and Ned he bought it from some store he couldn’t remember the name of. He still feels guilty at the thought of them taking his word for it.

“I hope you don’t mind I told Ned that you’re my girlfriend,” Peter says after a moment. They’re walking close together to preserve some heat as they walk.

“No, it’s okay. I, uh. I like the thought,” MJ replies, shrugging a little. “I don’t want to completely jump into this, though.”

“Oh, I agree. We can just see where this leads?” Peter grabs her hand and laces their fingers together, gently squeezing it. “I’m not expecting anything.”

She gives him a small smile. “Okay. I’m alright with that.”

The snow picks up as the day continues. Peter’s sight is limited, but it’s enough to get him where he’s going. Thankfully, the walk isn’t too terribly long, and he should be able to make it home before he gets  _ too _ cold.

He’s a mile from the school when he’s suddenly stopped on the sidewalk by two strange men. They look like they’re in their late-twenties, their skin so pale you could almost see their veins underneath. The shorter of the two is looking at him intensely, and Peter feels a shiver go through him that isn’t from the cold.

“Excuse me,” he manages out, moving to go past them. They stop him, and Peter has to take a few steps back. “It’s really cold, I want to go home.”

“There’s a fire in you,” the other one says, his gaze turning as intense as his companion’s. “I can see it very clearly in your eyes.”

Swallowing thickly, Peter can’t think of anything to say in response. They don’t stop him again as he quickly shoves past them, his steps quickening in his haste to retreat. He can still feel their eyes on the back of his head, even long after he’s been home.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter spends his Christmas break not doing anything. Wade finally responds to his texts after a week of ignoring him, often texting him late into the night. Ned and MJ don’t text back nearly as often, but they still keep in constant contact. It’s nice, in a way he never felt back in the city with Harry and Gwen. He isn’t sure when the last time he’s talked to either of them, either by call or by text. Last he heard, Gwen was attending a college in England, and Harry was going to follow in his dad’s footsteps in running Oscorp.

Peter did end up taking MJ out on their first date. It wasn’t anything fancy. The two of them went to a city nearby and ate dinner at a nice restaurant and went ice skating afterwards. MJ was happy for it, so it made Peter happy, too. Seeing MJ smile the way she did that day made Peter glad of his decision to start dating her.

The two guys from before still sit weirdly in Peter’s mind. He isn’t sure what to make of them, and he hasn’t seen either of them since. It’s like they were ghosts. It doesn’t help that Peter still isn’t sure what to make of what they said to him. He’s asked Wade, MJ, and Ned about it. Wade never answered, and the other two just think they’re some random pedophiles.

Even though break is due to end the following Monday, Peter has yet to  _ see _ Wade face-to-face. Though they’ve been texting near nonstop, Wade always has an excuse as to why they couldn’t meet up. It was, quite easily, driving Peter insane.

Letting out a sigh as yet another text goes unanswered, Peter pushes his way into the coffee shop. He lets the fresh scent of coffee fill his nose before he orders his usual hot chocolate and muffin. The lady behind the counter gives him a free candy cane, seeing as they have loads of unsold ones from Christmas the day prior. As he’s turning to find a spot to sit and sip his coffee, he spots movement from the corner table. Wade’s sitting there, hunching over himself as he stares intently out the window.

“Is this seat taken?” he asks, smirking a little as Wade jumps guiltily and looks at Peter.

“No, uh. Go ahead,” he answers. The smile he gives Peter is tense, so unlike the multitude of grins he always seems to have in his sleeve. “Did you have a nice Christmas?”

“I did,” Peter says slowly. “My aunt and I ate a big breakfast after exchanging gifts. Then we watched Christmas movies all day, had a small dinner, and went to bed. The same thing we do every year.” His brown eyes search Wade’s vibrant blue, looking for anything different he might see. Wade is on guard, that much Peter can see. “What about you? How was your holiday?”

“It was fine. We don’t really celebrate Christmas much anymore since…” Wade shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re more Halloween people, anyway.”

Peter hums, breaking off a piece of his muffin and offering it to Wade. “I don’t have anything to officially give you as a gift, so I’m offering you this. Will you, Wade Wilson, accept my amazing gift? In return, you must hang out with me for the rest of the break.”

Wade laughs loudly, earning himself more than a few glares from the other patrons scattered throughout the small shop. The employees seem to have gotten used to Wade’s peculiar brand. “I accept, Peter Parker.”

They end up splitting the rest of the muffin. Peter wants to make a joke in there, but he only just recently got Wade to talk to him again. He doesn’t want to lose the opportunity to hang out with his friend. “Why were you ignoring me?” he can’t help but ask. 

Wade goes still once more, and Peter knows he pushed a barrier he didn’t want to.“Pete…” Wade whispers, looking anywhere but at Peter. They sit there in an awkward silence before Wade’s suddenly pulling something out of his jacket pocket. “I, um. I found this at a shop out of town. I got it earlier this week, but I haven’t found a good time to give it to you. So, here.”

Hesitantly, Peter accepts the immaculately wrapped gift. There’s even a bright red ribbon wrapped around it, tied up neatly on top. Peter looks up at Wade a moment before carefully unwrapping it. Inside a small jewelry box lays a necklace with a beautiful orange stone on it.

“Wade…” he breathes out. “Wade, this is so beautiful. Thank you. Can you put this on me?”

Wade nods, and stands up. Peter turns and lets Wade gently put the necklace on Peter. As Wade’s fingers brush across the back of his neck, he can’t suppress the shiver that goes through him at the contact.

“It looks beautiful on you,” Wade says once he’s sitting back down in his chair. He looks at Peter with a look he can’t decipher. It’s gone as soon as Peter notices it. “How’s MJ?”

Peter feels like he’s been shocked back into the present. “She’s alright. Dating is definitely… weird. We went on a date, but we don’t really do many couple-y things, I guess. MJ isn’t into it, I don’t think.”

“I’m really glad you’re happy, Pete,” Wade tells him sincerely. The grin he shoots at Peter is a small one, but it’s genuine.

“Thanks, Wade. You know, I’m really glad I got to see you again. I was starting to think you were avoiding me.” Peter laughs quietly. He knows it was a slightly self-deprecating one, but he can’t help it. Even if Wade were to spell it out for him, Peter still wouldn’t know how he made Wade avoid him thus far. May always said he could be a bit dense, but even now, Peter knows there’s something Wade isn’t saying. What, though, he doesn’t know.

It doesn’t help that Wade’s parting words with him that day are, “Stay safe, Petey Pie,” with no other explanation. Peter feels a bit cheated, if he’s being honest.

When school returns, Peter’s disappointed when he doesn’t see Wade anywhere. He’s taken to wearing the necklace everywhere, only taking it off to shower. When May first saw the necklace, she had assumed it came from MJ. She then got a weird look on her face when Peter told it was from Wade. Peter still wasn’t quite sure to make of May’s reaction, but she still seemed to like it.

Both MJ and Ned pick up on Peter’s gloomy attitude, and do their best to distract him any way they can. Peter appreciates the effort, but he wishes Wade would answer his texts again. Even after bumping into him at the coffee shop, Wade’s still in no hurry to send a reply.

It’s when Wade’s family come back to school without Wade that Peter really starts to worry. Vanessa and Domino shoot him strange looks whenever they’re near him, but Peter’s too busy worrying to try and decipher them. MJ comments on his mood once, and Peter doesn’t grace her with a reply. He feels bad about it later, of course, but at the moment, he didn’t think it was the time.

“I really don’t know why you’re worrying yourself so much. It’s not like Wade’ll be gone forever,” May says to him one night while they watch a rerun of one of her favorite old shows. “He’s probably just busy.”

“But why would his family come back to school without him?” Peter asks, quirking an eyebrow at his aunt. “He hasn’t even answered any of my texts. And he barely answered during break, too.”

May wraps an arm around Peter, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t stress yourself out over this, sweetie. How often do you text Ned and MJ compared to how often you text Wade?”

“Ned and I actually text more than MJ and I…” Peter admits quietly. “We have a group chat together, and I talk to my girlfriend in there more than I do alone.”

May’s quiet for a moment. It’s almost long enough for Peter to think she’s spaced out on the show they’re watching. “How is MJ?” she asks, her voice soft as she says it.

“She’s… alright, I guess. Why?”

“You don’t talk about her too often.”

Peter plays with the sleeves of his sweater. He’s staring down at them like they’ll solve all of his problems if he fiddles with the fabric long enough. “May… would you be mad if I told you I only started dating MJ because it makes her happy?”

“Well… I don’t exactly approve,” she answers honestly. “You shouldn’t do things just because it makes other people happy. You have to think of yourself every once in a while, too. Especially when it concerns a thing like dating. You have to be willing to commit to the relationship, even if there are complications. Are you willing to do that with MJ?”

“I don’t know,” he whispers. “I kind of… snapped a little bit at her the other day. She asked why I was so mopey and I couldn’t even tell her why. I don’t know. I want her to be happy, so if dating me makes her happy, then I’m willing to do just that.”

May tuts, like she can’t believe the words coming out of her nephew’s mouth. “I’ve always known you to be a people pleaser, but I never thought something like this would happen.”

Peter bites his bottom lip roughly, gaze once more intensely on his sleeves. A wave of shame washes over him just then, and he really wishes May wasn’t so right all the time. “What should I do, Aunt May?” He lays his head on her shoulder, much like he used to do when he was a child. The way she runs her fingers through his thick curls never fails to calm him down, even in the most stressful of situations.

“I think you need to be honest with MJ.” She’s talking into his hair, and he smiles a little at the comforting feeling. “You shouldn’t keep dragging her along if you can’t reciprocate her feelings. And once you do, you’ll have to give her space afterwards. She’ll be hurt. But, based on what you’ve told me, she’ll most likely eventually come around. If she doesn’t, though, you can’t blame yourself for what happened. In the end, she’ll be more hurt about you dragging her along than you telling her how you really feel. A relationship is two people, Pete, and it won’t work if you aren’t putting your heart on the line like she is.”

Peter cuddles a little bit further into May, letting out a soft sigh. “When did you get so wise?” he asks, joking lightly to try and lift the heavy mood a little. He smiles in success when May just snorts.

Later that night, Peter’s still mulling over everything from his conversation with May when his phone lights up with a text. Unsure of who it could be, he grabs it carelessly off his bedside table. He nearly drops it when he sees the notification of a text from Wade.

**_[From: Wade]  
_ ** **_hey petey. sry 4 not txting u sooner. ill b back @ skool tmrw_ **

Peter feels a little dizzy from seeing Wade texting him. Even though he’s read it multiple times, it still doesn’t quite feel real.

**_[To: Wade]  
_ ** **_see you then (:_ **

**~*~**

It’s stopped snowing for long enough that some of it has already started to melt. Peter knows from past experiences that that doesn’t always guarantee it’s done for the season. The slush sneaks its way into his shoes and melts uncomfortably, soaking into his socks, and making every step accented with a wet sounding ‘ _ squelch _ ’. Luckily, May’s taught him to pack an extra pair of socks in his backpack for days like this one. At first, Peter had thought it was odd, packing socks to bring to school. But after three straight days of wet socks during class, he started listening to her. He’s glad he does, too. While other students complain of cold feet, his toes sit dry and warm in his shoes.

He’s sitting on a bench near the front entrance of the school changing his socks when Wade comes strolling in. Peter nearly trips on his hastily tied laces in an effort to catch up with the taller male. Wade doesn’t acknowledge him, and Peter has to swallow the hurt as he steps in front of Wade.

“Where were you?” he asks, his tone coming out more accusatory than he meant it to. “And why haven’t you been answering any of my texts? I thought we were past this already, Wade.”

Wade’s gaze flickers down to the necklace before meeting Peter’s eyes. His once warm blue eyes are cold as he stares down at him. “I don’t have to tell you everything, Peter. And I was busy. I don’t have to text you every single second of the day.”

Peter flinches. The Wade he’s talking to this morning is a stark contrast to the one he talked to over break. “What the  _ hell _ , Wade? I was fucking worried, for God’s sake. You gave me a cryptic message during break, and then you vanish off the face of the Earth. So, I’m sorry if my texting bothered your alone time. Next time you want to disappear, I won’t bother you.”

He spins on his heels and stalks off. He can hear Wade calling for him, but Peter’s too angry to stop and listen to whatever Wade has to say at the moment. As soon as he’s a significant distance away, he slides down a random wall to sit on the floor. His shoes lay still messily tied in front of him, almost mocking him for being so desperate to talk to someone who didn’t want to give him the time of day. In a fit of defiance, he ties them as neat as he can manage.

Above him, the bell rings out, a piercing sound that breaks through his fog of emotions to remind him he’s still at school. While he is still annoyed at Wade for what he said, he picks himself back up and heads to his first class of the day.

Lunchtime is an awkward affair. Peter’s still rather peeved, and neither MJ nor Ned ask him about it. MJ reads silently and Ned fiddles awkwardly with his lunch tray as he eats. At one point, Wade tries coming over to talk to Peter, and all Peter can do is stare down at his lumped mashed potatoes and cold gravy. Logically, Peter knows he should hear Wade out. He knows this. But emotionally, however, he can’t get past the anger that he had somehow annoyed Wade enough over the past few weeks that the older had to physically tell him to back off. Old self-conscious thoughts come sneaking back up into his mind, and Peter has to squash them down before they can take control.

The next day, Peter doesn’t even see Wade. He’s somewhere, he knows. Ned mentions during one of their shared classes that Wade mouthed off to the teacher and got a lunch detention as a result. The news brings a small smile to Peter’s face, but he’s forcing it away the moment he notices.

During one of the breaks between classes, Peter’s approached by someone he’s never talked to before. She’s roughly the same height as him with black hair cut into a bob and piercing green eyes that stare him down. Her skin’s pale, and it’s cold when she grabs his arm and turns him to look at her.

“Um. Hi, Vanessa,” he greets awkwardly, shuffling a little where he stands.

“Wade’s all mopey,” she says. “It’s stinking up the house. It reeks of teen angst.”

Peter blushes a little, feeling uncomfortable under her intense stare. “I’m sorry?”

“Please fix it.” Her stare softens, somehow, and her face goes from annoyed to worried. “I haven’t seen him this upset about anything since he discovered his favorite Mexican restaurant nearby closed. Please, Peter.”

She looks and sounds sincere when she says it. Guilt settles deep into Peter, curling into a tight ball sitting heavily in the pit of his stomach. He nods, absentmindedly, and Vanessa’s content with that as an answer. She heads off to her next class, and leaves Peter standing in the emptying hallways.

He nearly misses his next class.

Peter spots Wade for the first time that day an hour later. He’s lucky enough that his class is so close to the other’s during that time of day. Briefly, he wonders how he didn’t notice before. He would’ve totally walked with Wade, had he known. Wade’s surprised that Peter even approaches him, and easily agrees to skip the next period to find somewhere quiet to sit and talk.

“I noticed earlier that you wear the necklace,” Wade says quietly, squirming a little on the bench they found outside the school. They’ll likely get in trouble for skipping, but the way Wade sounds hopeful as he speaks makes Peter feel warm all over.

“I only take it off to shower,” he replies, playing with the gem gently between his fingers. “I love it, Wade, honestly.”

“I’m sorry for what I said to you,” Wade says, a bit sudden but not unexpected. “I didn’t mean it, I swear.”

“It still hurt, Wade.” Peter’s hands drop into his lap. “I was worried. You didn’t text me much during break, and then after I see you, you disappear. I can’t help but feel like I was the reason. I apologize for whatever I did.”

Wade’s quick to shake his head. “No, Petey, don’t… it was me, alright? God, that sounds so cliché. Anyway, I really was busy these past couple weeks. I, uh, I can’t really go into specifics as to why, but I tried getting back as soon as I could. I didn’t mean to ignore you the whole time. As for the snapping, I know it’s not an excuse, but what happened during those two weeks… I was still a bit tense. You can ask Ness, I swear.”

“I believe you, Wade.” Peter chuckles softly. “Please don’t ignore me for that long again, please? I’m pretty sure I annoyed my aunt with all of my pacing.”

Wade snorts. His gaze falls once more down to the necklace Peter’s wearing. “Orange looks good on you,” he says softly. He rolls it between his fingers a moment before dropping it again.

Wade’s skin looks more flush than the last time Peter saw him. He doesn’t know quite how to explain it, but there’s more color to his cheeks. He’s still rather pale, but he doesn’t look as ghastly as he did when Peter saw him last.

“You look healthier,” he comments, startling Wade a bit. Wade isn’t an easy person to startle. Peter wonders what he could’ve been thinking about to cause him to become so lost in thought.

“Healthier?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Like… the last time I saw you, you looked more pale.” Peter tilts his head to the side a bit to inspect Wade’s face a bit closer. “There’s more of a flush to your cheeks.”

“That could just be you, baby boy,” Wade says, and the flush in his cheeks darkens. Peter could feel his own doing the same on his own face. “C’mon, I’ll walk with you to your next class.”

**~*~**

It’s the beginning of February when Peter finally uses his aunt’s advice. He knows he probably should’ve done this sooner, but in his defense, he got distracted. With Wade talking to him again, they’ve been playing catch-up, and then either texting or hanging out whenever possible.

It’s actually MJ that approaches him. Peter still struggles with confrontation, even on his better days. He wishes he could hide behind a mask whenever these instances come up, but there’s only so much he can do to hide before it turns weird.

“Look, Peter, I…” MJ sighs softly. She’s playing lightly with a charm on the bracelet Peter got her for her birthday near the end of January. When he gave it to her, it was clear she wasn’t expecting anything of the extent he went. She wore it every day. “You’re a great friend, but I’m not sure we’re working very well as a couple anymore.”

Peter’s brain shuts down for a minute, and it takes a couple deep breaths for it to come back online. “Am I… is it me?”

“No, no,” she assures. She reaches over and grabs his hand, gently squeezing it between two of her own. “Look, I still like you. And I wasn’t lying when I said I had a crush on you at one point, but… I feel like whatever’s happening between us isn’t really… going anywhere.”

There’s a weird feeling sitting heavily in his chest as he processes MJ’s words. He supposes he should feel more upset over MJ breaking up with him, but instead, he feels more guilty. There’s no way MJ isn’t aware of Peter's mind being somewhere else whenever they’re out. Hell, he’s pretty sure she’s figured out that he hasn’t been as invested in the relationship as she was.

“I suppose… I can see where you’re coming from,” he tells her. “I, uh. I’ve actually been meaning to do the same thing. Breaking up, that is.” He takes a shaky breath before looking at her. “Look, MJ, I’m… I’ve got to be honest with you. I’m--”

“Not interested in me, I know.” MJ gives him a sad smile. “It wasn’t very hard to figure out when I kept having to get your attention whenever we made out.”

“I’m so sorry, MJ. It was never my intention to lead you on or anything,” Peter quickly apologizes.

“I know,” MJ says, letting out a soft sigh. “It was what made me take a step back and think over the situation again. I still want to be friends with you, Peter. But… right now, I kind of need some space until I’m able to fully grasp everything.”

Peter nods. “I understand,” he whispers. “You’re a great girl, MJ.”

MJ smiles and kisses his cheek before standing up from the bench. The sound of her boots crunching on the fresh snow is the only sound she makes as she walks home. Peter’s left sitting there, wondering where he messed everything up.

There’s a hand on his elbow as Peter tries his best not to slip and slide all over the slick sidewalk. It rained the previous night and froze, casting everything in a thin layer of ice. Peter already wasn’t that coordinated to begin with, but throw in icy conditions and a newborn foal would have had better walking abilities. Wade’s watching him in amusement, seemingly not at all bothered by the ice. It’s unfair how easily he’s able to walk when Peter’s feet slide out from under him every few steps.

“Stop laughing at me,” Peter says, pout in full effect. “How are you able to walk so well on this shit? It’s totally unfair.”

The smirk on Wade’s face doesn’t deter even the slightest. “I know how to walk.”

“Fuck you,” Peter mutters under his breath, though with the way Wade is snickering, it wasn’t as quiet as he hoped. “I know how to walk, it’s just this icy shit all over the place.”

“Okay, Petey, whatever makes you feel better.”

Peter huffs, but the hand clutching onto Wade tightens as he slips. If it wasn’t for Wade, Peter’s sure he’d be dealing with a cold butt. Wade moves so he’s got an arm around Peter’s waist. If Peter wasn’t so embarrassed, he’s sure his face would be bright red from being so close to Wade.

“Are we almost to school?” he asks Wade, having an uncomfortable feeling of being watched coming from nearby. He isn’t sure what to make of it, but he’s certain it’s been happening more and more frequently. When Wade had approached him earlier asking if he needed help, Peter was more thankful about having someone with him than the help for walking.

“Yeah, baby boy. Another couple minutes. Why? Wanna get rid of me that bad?” He’s joking, obviously, though Peter’s also been around the taller male enough times to know when there’s an undertone of worry.

“No, just…” he trails off before shaking his head. “It’s nothing. I just want to get there.”

Wade looks at him in concern, wanting to know what is going on, but not wanting to press. Peter gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile before focusing back on his feet.

The feeling of being watched only gets worse when he walks home alone later.

**~*~**

May decides to take a weekend off to visit her friends back in the city. Peter declines the offer to join her, giving some excuse that he has an upcoming science project due the following week. The two of them can see right through the excuse, but thankfully May doesn’t choose to call him out on it.

Ned is busy doing something else with family that weekend, and MJ still isn’t at a good point to hang out alone with him again. They still text often, but MJ is still trying her best to get over any hurt feelings. It sucks he doesn’t really have much to do other than text his friends, but he enjoys the silence for what it is. He knows Wade would be willing to hang out with him, but there’s a nagging feeling pulling in his gut to not bother Wade again. Peter can’t help but shove that feeling deep down, even if he does end up listening to it.

It’s early afternoon on Saturday when Peter finally feels the itch to leave the house. Prior to this, he spent all Friday night and that morning lounging around. Any homework that could likely be done wasn’t; saved for the rush of Sunday to get it done before school is back in session for the week.

It’s slowly starting to warm up a bit, any ice from before melting once more into slush. Peter pulls his hoodie a bit closer to his body, chasing off any hints of cold air that sneak their way through the thick fabric. The wind is light, but it still nips coldly at his nose. Wade’s hat sits firmly on his head yet, the younger still unwilling to part with the warmth. Wade seemed in no rush to get it back anyway.

Peter’s on the edge of town when two familiar faces are suddenly in front of him, stopping him in his place. When he looks up, he feels himself pale when he sees the two men from before standing in front of him once more.

“Um. Hello,” he greets, his voice weak. He’s trying so hard not to turn around and bolt. These two men are still largely unknown to him-- he doesn’t know what they’re capable of doing. “May I please pass?”

The two share an odd look before one reaches forward, tearing the necklace off from around Peter’s neck. He opens his mouth to protest, but there’s suddenly a cloth over his nose and mouth. Any words that were sat on the tip of his tongue die off, the world at the edge of his vision slowly blacking out.

Cold hands catch him before he hits the ground.

When he comes to a few hours later, it’s to an unfamiliar location. The walls and floor are made of concrete, without a single window on any of the walls. There’s a faint musty smell and the sound of a slow water drip somewhere he can’t place. Peter figures he must be in some basement, if the lack of light has anything to do with it. His head is ringing, and there are heavy chains lining his wrists. They’re attached to the wall nearest him, and even with all of his pulling, all he manages to do is scratch up his wrists.

“It’s pointless to struggle, little firekeeper.”

Peter’s head spins quickly towards the sound. A tall pale man steps out of a door Peter didn’t see during his look around. His cheeks burn as he gets as close to the concrete wall as he physically can. “Why are you calling me that? And why am I here?”

The man just chuckles. “You humans are so adorable when you’re clueless.”

Nerves fill every part of him, settling heavily in his stomach. He swallows them down as best he can. “You say that like you aren’t human.”

“I was once,” the man says. “But it’s been many many years since then.” He steps closer to Peter, who flinches before he can stop himself. “You’re a very interesting human, did you know that? I can feel your power even now.”

Peter refuses to meet the man’s bloodshot eyes. Something about them sets Peter on edge. Though he can’t name why, he knows the man in front of him is dangerous. More so than anybody he has ever seen before.

He looks over Peter slowly, making the teenager feel filthy from the gaze alone. “You have no idea about the power that lives under your skin, just waiting to be let out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peter tells him defiantly. “I’m just a normal high school senior. Please, just let me go.”

The man tuts lightly. It grates against Peter’s already fried nerves. “Why would I let you go when you’re the last piece of the puzzle I need?” He smirks when Peter looks up at those words. “Do you know why I have you here, Peter?”

“If I did, why do you think I’m asking you to let me go? For shits and giggles?” Peter remarks.

“You are as fiery as the power that lies within you,” he chuckles, standing up and towering over Peter. “My name is Aldo. I’m the leader of a very powerful coven here in the area. There are others like you that I have hunted over the years. I’ve trained them to be the best of the best. But, alas, I’m missing the fire piece. You, young one, are the one I’ve spent years searching for.”

Before he can help himself, Peter asks, “Coven of what?”

Aldo’s grin turns sharp and wicked. “Vampires, of course.” Two sharp teeth poke out from his grin, making Peter feel faint at the sight.

“Vampires aren’t real,” he denies anyway. “They’re a myth.”

“Do I look fake to you?” Aldo asks. “You see, this group I’ve made that you will join once you turn, they are all very powerful. Alone, they can cause mayhem. But all five of you together? I could control anything I wanted. Nobody will be able to stop me.”

“Turn? Like into a vampire?”

“Of course.” Aldo says it so simply. Peter feels lightheaded at the ease that the answer rolls off his tongue. “I’ve been wanting to get my hands on you sooner, but that cursed young vampire has made it very difficult to get you alone.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. You’re the first vampire I’ve ever met,” Peter tells him. There are dozens of people that instantly go through his mind, but he can’t think of a single person who would be the one Aldo is talking about.

“Did he not tell you?” Aldo asks, raising an amused eyebrow. “As enamoured as he is with you, I’m surprised it slipped his attention.”

Those words catch Peter’s attention. “Who are you talking about?”

“Wade Wilson, of course.”

His breath catches in his throat at the words. The headache he’s already sporting feels like it suddenly increases tenfold. “No, you’re wrong.”

Aldo hums, like he’s amused at the situation that’s playing out. “I tried recruiting him a few years ago. He possesses the ability to heal himself and others, quite a useful trick, if I may say so. Instead, he turned me down and joined a group of  _ stragglers _ . Nobodies who don’t need his abilities within their ranks.”

“Stop!” Peter yells, pulling once more at the chains. “Wade loves his family!”

Aldo snarls at Peter, who does his best not to shrink under the sound. Eventually, he shrinks back closer to the wall. “I should’ve turned you while you were unconscious.”

He advances on Peter when he’s suddenly interrupted by a loud noise on the floor above. Aldo snarls once more, but this time it isn’t at Peter. The door he came out of earlier is slammed open and Domino comes through.

“He’s in here!” she shouts behind her before running towards Aldo.

Peter squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see anything that happens in the room. He jumps when there’s suddenly hands on him.

“Hey, it’s just me,” a familiar voice says. Peter wants to sob when he hears Wade’s voice. “Keep your eyes closed for me, alright? I’m gonna get you out of here.”

The chains around his wrist are broken and he’s being picked up. There’s a quickness in Wade’s steps, and Peter covers his ears to drown out any noise. When the scent of forest fills his nose, he allows himself to open his eyes and let his hands drop. Wade’s gently setting him back on his feet, making no move to go back into the house. There’s a tenseness in his shoulders telling him he wishes he was, however.

“Wade,” he whispers, hand hovering in the air awkwardly before he pulls the taller into a hug. A ton of questions hang in the air between them, but in that moment, all Peter can focus on is the feeling of Wade holding him close.

“C’mon, baby boy. We’re going back to my house for now,” Wade says as he pulls away. “Is May home?”

“No, she’s back in New York City for the weekend,” Peter answers with a shake of his head. “I’m almost afraid to ask if we’re still in Maine.”

“It’s probably better if you don’t,” Wade replies, wincing a bit. “There’s a fast way back, but I’m going to need you to trust me.”

Peter easily meets Wade’s eyes. “I do trust you,” he says softly.

Wade’s smile comes easily, and there’s something hidden within the depths of his blue eyes. Before he can comment on it, however, Wade is once more scooping him up into a bridal style. Peter squawks unattractively, clinging tightly onto Wade. Wade’s body shakes with laughter as the younger just buries his head into Wade’s shoulder.

He’s not sure how much time has passed, but soon enough, Wade’s gently setting him down on an incredibly comfortable sofa. When he opens his eyes, he’s in Wade’s house in his living room. There’s some banging coming from the kitchen, and Wade soon returns with a glass of water and a hastily thrown together sandwich.

“I hope you like turkey, it’s all we have,” he says, handing both objects to Peter.

“Thank you.” Peter’s blushing hotly, and he refuses to look up at Wade as he quickly downs the water and scarfs down the sandwich. He barely tastes it. Before he got taken, he was on his way to get lunch. Based on how dark it was outside now, Peter knows he hasn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. No wonder he ate the sandwich so fast.

The others soon arrive, straggling in one by one until they’re all huddled inside the cramped living room. Wade’s sitting next to Peter on the sofa, with Vanessa shoved onto it on Wade’s other side. Ellie and Yukio are sitting on the ground on the other side of the room, heads close to one another and talking. Peter sees Logan pacing near the doorway, hand scratching at his beard, and otherwise left alone. Domino and Pietro are on a loveseat nearby, neither of them talking, but keeping everyone else in the room in their perspective.

“Is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Peter blurts, blushing hotly when multiple pairs of eyes suddenly snap towards him. He keeps his eyes on Wade. “Is what… that man told me true?”

“What, uh. What did he tell you?” Wade asks carefully.

“That he’s a vampire,” he whispers. “And apparently I’m some potentially powerful person. He also said… he also said you’re one. With some healing ability.” Peter looks at Wade desperately. “Please tell me he’s lying, Wade. Vampires can’t be real, right? They’re a myth. He kidnapped me for some other reason, right?”

“Pete…”

Peter stands up abruptly. “I want the truth, Wade. My night has been hellish enough. The last thing I need right now is some roundabout way of telling me I’m crazy or imagining everything.”

Wade sighs and gently pulls Peter down to sit back down on the couch. He’s still tense, but does so anyway. “He wasn’t lying, Petey. I… he… vampires are real.”

Peter feels like his hands are shaking. He feels like he can’t comprehend anything in that moment. It just doesn’t make sense. He voices as much. “No they’re not. Wade, they  _ can’t be _ .”

Wade gently takes Peter’s hands into his. He hates to admit it, but he feels himself relaxing with the way Wade gently touches him. “I’m sorry, baby boy. I am. We all are. We’re a small little coven. We moved here because it’s remote. When we caught your scent, we knew we had to keep you safe from Aldo and his followers. In all honesty, we didn’t expect him to make his move so soon.”

“I still don’t understand. Powerful scent? Aldo mentioned that I smell that way, even for a human. It’s why he wanted me.”

“Back in the day,” Logan suddenly speaks up, catching everyone’s attention, “there was an old group. There were five of them. Each one representing a different, er, element. Fire, water, air, earth, and spirit. Nobody really knows why or how they came about having these powers, though.”

“It’s incredibly rare to be able to control an element,” Vanessa adds. “The fact we’re all able to sense it in a human only adds to the fact that you’ll be powerful as a vampire.”

“Which is likely why he wants you,” Wade tells him. “Aldo’s got control of water, air, earth, and spirit.”

“He told me he’s making a new group,” Peter says. “In order to be able to control everybody and everything.”

“He won’t be able to get very far.” Logan snorts. “Aldo fails to realise these powers have a lot to do with the possesser’s willingness to use them. Because they’re elements, there’s more… rules to use them.”

“I can use my healing abilities on a dime, if I so wish.” Wade shows him his arm where Peter knew he had injured myself. “Healing isn’t like wielding fire. Elements are, obviously, a natural thing. And Mother Nature doesn’t like doing anything for anybody but herself.”

“They must be following his orders out of fear then.” Peter’s eyes widened. “We have to save them.”

“They weren’t at the location Peter was being held in,” Domino adds. “We looked all over. It was just him there.”

“I’m guessing they planned on turning you there and taking you elsewhere once you recovered.” Wade roughly bites his bottom lip. “C’mon, it’s late. You’ve had enough of an info dump tonight.”

Nodding, Peter allows himself to be pulled up. Wade’s grip on his wrist is gentle as he’s lead out of the living room and up the stairs. Wade’s bedroom is the furthest away on the right, facing towards a beautiful view of a large lake sitting behind the property. While Peter’s attention is on the view, he can hear Wade moving things around and opening and closing drawers.

“Here. These might be big on you, but you’re welcome to wear them. If you want to stay the night, of course. There’s a shower down the hall if you need it.” Wade’s handing him a soft pair of grey sweatpants and a loose looking white tee. “Or we can just sit here for a minute before I take you home.”

“I would like to stay the night, if that’s alright with you.” Peter’s voice is as soft as Wade’s in that moment. He still feels a bit shaken after everything that happened. Not exactly a good time to be alone.

The bathroom is rather spacious, when he gets there. There’s makeup scattered on the counter, and clothes haphazardly thrown in the general direction of the hamper. He sees a hoodie that he remembers Wade wearing to school a week ago sitting neatly on the floor in front of the hamper. Peter has to contain a snicker when he realises Wade must’ve done that on purpose.

His skin is red from the intense heat of the water. No matter how hard he scrubs, he still can’t feel clean enough. Being unconscious ran him through a ringer. The unknown of what happened when he was blacked out leaving far too many questions for him to feel comfortable with. When he steps out, there’s a towel waiting for him on the counter, folded neatly.

Drying and dressing quickly, Peter doesn’t waste any time before he’s once more in Wade’s bedroom. Said man is already lounging on his bed with his eyes closed. They both know Peter’s back in the room, but Wade makes no move to acknowledge him yet. It isn’t until Peter sits hesitantly on the edge and making it dip under his weight does Wade crack a small smile.

“If I ask a question, can you please answer it honestly?” Peter asks, looking at Wade pleadingly. His heart is thrumming in his chest from the mere possibility of whatever Wade’s answer will be, but he’s desperate to know. “When you started talking to me,  _ really _ talking to me, was it because of… you know, my scent?”

Wade opens his eyes to look over at Peter. There’s a hidden emotion within the depths of the blue irises. Peter forces himself to break the intensity of it. “Yes,” he eventually answers. “Logan thought it’d be a good idea to keep an eye on you, and the best way to do that was to get close.”

Peter’s heart falls. It must show on his face because Wade quickly sits up.

“It started like that, Petey, honestly. But when I got to know you, well. It wasn’t as difficult to pretend to want to talk to you.” Wade sighs softly. “I didn’t mean to ignore you for those two weeks, you know. We, uh. We were following a lead we had on Aldo. I think that’s why he pulled a move on you early.”

Peter nods wordlessly. “Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?”

“Go ahead.”

The bed is huge, and Peter feels like he’s being swallowed by it. He gives Wade a small smile before turning to face towards the lake. Even if he doesn’t manage to get a very good night’s sleep, it’s the safest he’s felt since moving to Maine.


	3. Chapter 3

With March comes Peter’s eighteenth birthday. Graduation is just around the corner, and he’s no closer to being ready to be an adult than he did waking up on the morning of March 15th. May’s happy to celebrate for the both of them as she makes him a special breakfast before school that consists of waffles hastily popped into the toaster. With a promise to make something more special for dinner, she slides the plate towards him and kisses the top of his head before heading off to work.

It’s weird, Peter can’t help but feel. Usually, he loves May’s morning waffles on his birthday. Even though the occasions where his birthday falls on a weekend and she goes all out are his favorite. Yet, sitting there that morning, he doesn’t feel any of his usual excitement.

After he finishes eating, he pulls on a random pair of jeans and a shirt that most likely needs to be washed, adding a sweater before slipping out the door. Most of the snow has already melted, leaving a slightly warm feeling in the air. He knows, realistically, he should give Wade his hat back. Honestly, he should’ve given it back a while ago, but he can’t make himself part with it just yet.

Ever since the incident with Aldo, Peter finds himself constantly looking over his shoulder for hidden figures that aren’t there. Even Ned and MJ have commented on his odd behavior. MJ still doesn’t like hanging out with him one-on-one, but at least their friendship is back to the way it was before. Throughout the school day, he hurries from one class to the next, dipping and weaving through students from building to building.

“Are you doing anything for your birthday?” MJ asks as they walk to the gym side by side. It’s the only class that semester that they have together. “I can’t imagine May won’t want to do anything this year. It’s a big milestone, after all.”

Peter huffs quietly. “You’re only saying that because May made you that big dinner on the weekend after your eighteenth. Pretty sure she was willing to adopt you that night.”

MJ snorts. “That would make us dating awkward then, huh?”

Peter rolls his eyes, but he’s laughing anyway. “Yeah, yeah. And I’m sure May will want some get-together or something. Nothing too fancy, though. She knows I hate parties.”

“You don’t even know enough people to  _ have _ a party, loser. Pretty sure you need more than three friends for that,” MJ drawls, grinning down at Peter.

“It’s my birthday, you have to be nice to me.” Peter pouts, only deepening it as MJ laughs in response.

“Okay, nerd. Keep telling yourself that.”

As predicted, May did want a party for Peter. Thankfully, she was willing to keep it small and at home, inviting Ned, MJ, and Wade to their place for a birthday get-together. Wade answered quickly, and rather enthusiastically, which made Peter think he was expecting it all along.

When everybody’s there, and their stomachs are full from May’s homemade lasagna, they decide to sit in the living room and let Peter open his gifts. In the background, a random movie plays for sound, though none of them are paying any attention to it.

From May, Peter gets a giftcard to the local bookstore in town. She teases him that since he’s holed in his room most of the time anyway, he might as well do something productive. He’s also fairly sure he’s seen a  _ Help Wanted _ sign in the window, and if the glimmer in her eyes is anything to go by, there may be a subtle hint there as well.

Ned and MJ both joined their money together to get Peter the new  _ The Last of Us Part II _ game, which Peter predictably freaks out about. Even Wade is grinning as Peter hugs his friends tightly in thanks, already planning on playing the hell out of the game in the following few months.

Wade is quiet as he hands Peter his gift, managing to even look a bit shy at the messily wrapped gift. Peter shoots him a smile before carefully unwrapping it. When the familiar view of a jewelry box comes into view, he wastes no time in opening it before grinning. “Oh my god! I thought I lost this,” he says excitedly, picking the necklace out of the box. “How the hell did you find this?”

“I’ll explain later,” Wade tells him softly, not hesitating to hook the necklace back around Peter’s neck without the younger even having to ask. “Figured you’d want it back. Sorry your gift isn’t anything new.”

“God, Wade. I don’t even care. You can ask Aunt May, I was so upset when I lost this.” Peter gently touches the orange gem, letting it warm his chest as it lays there where it belongs.

They all stay up to watch a movie, but halfway through, May retires for the night. After sleeping bags are all rolled out in the living room, they arrange themselves in a way they’re still able to watch whatever’s playing. By the time the movie’s done, MJ and Ned are out for the night.

“Is it later?” Peter jokes later in a whisper. He and Wade are lying close to one another on the floor. Ned is snoring nearby, though it’s easy to drown out. Peter can hear the soft music coming from MJ’s headphones as she sleeps in her own sleeping bag on the other side of the room.

“I was trying to find you,” Wade admits, his voice just as soft. Peter finds himself easily relaxing under the gentle tone. “I can’t explain it, but… something just felt off. When Ness, Dom, and I were all walking through town, I found your necklace lying on the ground. I knew you never take it off, so it meant whatever happened to you wasn’t good. Ness thought I was overreacting and that the chain just broke, but… I don’t know. I think there might’ve been something on my face to make them both believe me.” He looks over at Peter, his eyes softening as he takes in his face. “Petey, I… you know I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

Peter smiles, gently taking Wade’s hand into his own. “I know. Thank you. I know I’m human, but… I’ll do  _ my _ best for you.”

There’s a light blush on Wade’s cheeks. Peter must eye it curiously because Wade’s smile turns into a bit of a smirk. “I know you’re burning with, like, a million questions. Might as well ask them now.”

“How?” Peter asks, gently running his fingers over the heated cheek. “Your heart doesn’t even beat. And what about the blood from injuring yourself?”

Wade bites his lip a moment, most likely mulling over the words in his head. “After we… feed, the blood tends to do weird shit. It doesn’t, like, digest like you would think. It runs through our system and does all the stuff it normally would when we were,  _ technically _ , alive. Bleeding, blushing,  _ other things _ .” He wiggles his eyebrows.

Peter blushes hotly and covers Wade’s face with his hand. “So I basically happened to catch you after a fresh feed?”

“Yeah, pretty much. We try to keep on top of it so we can keep passing off as human. We’ll try to drink a blood bag every three days before school,” Wade explains. “And before you ask, no, not all vampire myths are true.” He pulls out his own necklace, which shows a small red gem attached to the chain. “Every vampire has their own gem with them at all times. It depends on the person with how they choose to wear it, however. My coven does the necklaces, though Ellie and Yukio were thinking about making theirs into rings. They serve as a sort of protection.”

Peter plays with his own orange gem. “What does you giving me one mean?”

“Well, a human having one means they have protection by a certain coven. Sometimes, however, it can also mean said coven plans on changing them at some point. Yours, however, is just the first one.” Wade gives him a stern look. “Because of your scent, if you didn’t have one, it could cause certain trouble down the line. It’s why Aldo ripped it off of you when he took you. Anybody who sees that knows it’s from us.”

“How so?”

“The styling, mainly. Each coven has their own unique way of branding their gems. Sort of like a coat of arms. Ours tend to have that gold curl around them.” Wade’s pointing to the small details of the necklace, the intense focus on it making Peter unable to stop smiling.

“What about food and sleep?” Peter asks. “I’ve seen you do both at school.”

Wade snorts. “We don’t need it, actually, but… again, fitting in. We don’t feel tired, full, or hungry-- well unless it’s blood, but then I just call that thirsty. For food, we usually set limits on what looks like a normal amount a food a teenager eats.”

“You can still taste it, though, right?”

“Fuck yeah we can,” Wade answers, almost a bit too loudly. Peter is quick to shush him before anyone else can wake up. “Not like that  _ Twilight  _ bullshit where Edward compares it to eating dirt.”

Peter snickers. “I always thought that was weird. It isn’t like your taste buds changed much. Other than being able to tolerate blood, of course.”

“Of course.”

The two of them lay there and just smile at one another. Peter has to bury his face into his pillow before his heart feels like it might burst out of chest. There’s a hand gently carding through his hair, making his whole body relax under the touch. He turns his head so it isn’t buried in his pillow anymore, but keeps his eyes shut. Wade is muttering something softly, but Peter falls asleep before he can figure out what it is.

The following morning, he’s woken up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. When he eventually peels his eyes open, he finds he’s the only one still in the living room.

“Sleeping Beauty wakes!” Wade crows, leaning over the back of the couch to grin down at a still half-awake Peter. “We were starting to make bets about how long you were gonna keep snoozing away.”

Peter grumbles something unintelligible as he pushes himself into a sitting position. Now that he’s no longer on the floor, he can see everybody sat at the table eating breakfast. MJ’s hair is still a knot of bedhead curls, but she’s pulled it up into a bun as she eats. May’s the only one dressed for the day.

“I made pancakes, sunshine! Come get them while they’re still hot.”

Peter makes a slight face when he wakes up more and is able to realise the foul taste still sitting on his tongue. After a quick trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth, he slides into the open seat next to Ned.

“You cook?” he asks, shooting Wade a teasing grin.

Wade huffs good naturedly, waving a wand at Peter. “Yes, I cook! A growing boy has to eat, doesn’t he?”

Continuing to grin, Peter stacks a couple pancakes onto his plate before drowning them in syrup. He hears May tut softly at the amount of sugar he’s pouring onto his plate, but otherwise doesn’t comment. MJ’s watching him silently, as she usually does. She seems to be quieter in the morning, but when Peter looks up, there’s a clarity in her eyes that he can’t miss. She’s watching him, for whatever reason. It makes him blush, even if he doesn’t have anything to hide from any of them. Well, the whole vampire thing is something to keep underwraps, but other than that…

It occurs to him, later, when Wade’s done cooking and eating alongside them. Peter’s laughing at one of Wade’s lame jokes when he feels MJ’s eyes on him again. Only this time, when he looks her way, there’s a small, encouraging, smile on her face.

“Thank you for breakfast, Wade, it was delicious,” May says as she starts putting dishes into the dishwasher. She shoos Peter away when he starts to help.

“It was my pleasure, Miss May.” He then looks at Peter a moment before turning back to May. “I can give MJ and Ned rides home this morning. I have a surprise for Peter anyway, so it won’t be any problem.”

May looks up in surprise. “Oh. Are you sure?”

“Not a problem at all.” Wade grins at her before leading Peter out of the kitchen. He ignores the odd look from Peter that he gets from his actions.

After dropping off MJ and Ned at their respective houses, Wade turns down the familiar stretch of road that leads to his house. Peter’s humming along softly to the music playing on the radio. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Wade smiling as he listens to Peter’s hums. He chooses to ignore it, however, or else his face will turn bright red in embarrassment at being caught, and he enjoys the song playing too much to stop.

There are other cars in the driveway already, signalling that the others are home. Wade isn’t showing any answers, so Peter has a hunch they’re there less because of a birthday surprise, and more so to give Peter more answers to what’s been burning in his mind since the last time he was here.

After a brief introduction to the others, Wade leads them to another hallway that Peter didn’t see the last time. A small library is introduced and Peter can’t help the smile that’s on his face at the sight.

“I never took you for being a reader,” Peter comments, letting his hand glide across the different spines of books, not a speck of dust coming off of any of them. “Or, any of you, really. No offense.”

“None taken,” Wade replies, amused. “When you’re alive for a long time, you tend to find different ways to keep yourself occupied. I wasn’t much of a reader when I was human, but now?” He shrugs.

“How old are you, by the way?” Peter asks, turning to look at Wade. “You have yet to ever say.”

“Seventeen.” Wade’s expression gets pinched before relaxing. “I’ve been seventeen for a while.”

“Alright, Edward Cullen,” Peter draws, smiling when it earns him a snort from Wade. “How long is ‘a while’?”

Wade bites his bottom lip and sits in one of the open chairs. Peter doesn’t feel like sitting, so he hovers awkwardly near the other teen. “I can’t really tell you the exact year I was born,” he says sheepishly. “I can’t remember. But it was sometime in the early 1900’s, I believe.”

“Damn. It really has been a while, huh?” Peter teases. His eyes scan over Wade’s scars. “Were you, uh. Are the scars from before?”

“Yeah.” Wade’s voice is quiet. Peter feels guilty for prying. “There was a house fire. Logan pulled me out before it could damage more of me. I was going to die because of the smoke, so he turned me in a bit of panic. Took years for me to accept his apology.”

Peter’s hand gently cupped Wade’s face, on the side where there is the long scar going over his eye and down to his jaw. The question is there, on the tip of his tongue, but Peter drops his hand before he can ask it. Wade almost looks disappointed that Peter didn’t ask, but also seemed thankful that he didn’t have to dive into that particular thought.

“So, uh. The real reason I brought you here to go in deeper about why Aldo wants you.” Wade stands up and heads over to one of the bookshelves. His hand skims over a couple before he’s pulling one out. The cover looks leathery, stained a deep purple with gold swirls going up the spine. “This book will tell us what we need to know.”

“What is it?” Peter asks, eyeing the book warily. He has seen enough Halloween movies to be cautious of anything deemed ‘what we need’. It isn't helping that the book contains information on old vampires.

“This, my dear, is a book about the Powerful Five.”

“Powerful five?”

“Both words are capitalized, baby boy. It emphasises the importance. Like a title.” Wade sets down the book on a nearby desk, opening it and flipping through a couple of the pages. Peter half-expects the words to come floating out, or something similar. “You see, way back before even my old man was a vampire, there was a group of powerful elementals. One controlled water, one controlled air, one controlled fire, one controlled earth, and one controlled spirit. Alone, they were all pretty powerful in their own rights. Together? They were next to impossible to stop.”

Peter’s eyes widen. “That means… if Aldo makes his own, he could be extremely dangerous.”

“Exactly. However, as Logan pointed out, their powers only work together if they will it to be so. And luckily for everybody, they were easygoing. Well. As easygoing as a group of powerful vampires  _ can _ be.” He flips a page and points to the list of names it provided. “Let’s see… Tony Stark controlled fire, Steve Rogers controlled spirit, Natasha Romanoff controlled water, Bruce Banner controlled earth, and Thor Odinson controlled air.”

“As thrilling as this is, what all does this have to do with me?” Peter asks.

Wade sighs, sounding put upon. Peter knows he’s anything but. “I was getting to that, Petey.” He flips a couple more pages before the portrait of man shows up on the page. Peter can’t shake the feeling of familiarity as he looks at it. “This, honey bunches, is Tony Stark. The fire one. According to this, even the Ancient Ones didn’t think he had what it takes to wield such a powerful element. It wasn’t until he was turned did they realise what power he had.”

“They couldn’t tell until after he turned?”

“Exactly.” Wade playfully taps the tip of Peter’s nose, causing the younger to scrunch it. “That means, if we’re able to scent this off of you  _ now _ , you’re going to even more powerful than Tony ever was. And that’s why I think Aldo’s desperate to get his hands on you. Because of this, though, it will result in a new group of elementals being even more dangerous than the last. Which is exactly what Aldo wants.”

“What happened to the last five?” Peter can’t help but ask.

Wade goes quiet for a moment. “Logan wasn’t a vampire for many years when the massacre happened,” he says softly. “Says he remembers it still like it just happened yesterday.”

“Massacre?”

Wade sits down in the desk chair. He’s playing lightly with the page in front of him as he answers. “Logan believes it was Aldo who orchestrated it all. Given everything that’s happened lately, I can believe that.” He sighs softly. “The group was hunted down and killed. What I believe, is that they refused to work for Aldo and his evil ways. Because of this, he retaliated by severely outnumbering them. Used his entire army to circle them and pick them off one by one that way. Tony was the last one he killed. He was able to slip away from Aldo every time, until he came back to the States. Tony was visiting the graves of the others when Aldo found him. The coven Logan ran with at the time laid him to rest next to the others.”

“Do you think that’s why it took so long for Aldo to find me?” Peter asks. The picture of Tony seems to be staring right through him. He has to look away before it rattles him too badly.

“I don’t know. I can’t pretend to understand how any of this shit works.” Wade leans back in the chair with a sigh. “All I know is that Aldo plans on using you as his last pawn in all of this.” Wade looks up at Peter seriously. “This means he may turn you the next time if he’s ever able to get his hands on you again.”

“But he won’t, right? Get his hands on me.”

“We’ll all do our damndest to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Wade swears sincerely. There’s a hard edge in his eyes and it makes Peter swallow thickly. He’s seen Wade serious more than once, but the way he looks now… it was something else entirely. Peter can feel his heart race a little in his chest.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but keeping Peter safe would be a lot easier if he was a vampire,” Vanessa says, strolling into the room. “The way he’s scented, it’ll be a lot harder to hide him as a human. He’s more… fragile, in this state.”

Wade picks once more at the book in front of him. “I don’t want to bring this life onto him, Ness. Not if I can help it.”

“She makes a point, though,” Peter speaks up. “My life is in danger no matter what we do. Why don’t we guarantee our chances a little more by changing me? Plus, this way, I can change when I want to and because I want to.”

“He’s damned either way, Wade,” Vanessa adds softly. “Now that Aldo knows, it won’t be long until word spreads about a human with a powerful scent. One way or another, he’ll become one of us. We might as well do it on our own terms.”

“I’m willing to do whatever to keep people safe,” Peter says softly. “Especially my loved ones. I don’t want May to end up getting hurt because Aldo could break into my house. I don’t need that to happen.” When Wade keeps staring down at the desk, Peter can’t help but let out a soft sigh. “How about this? I’ll think about it more, alright? That way, it’ll give everybody a chance to sit on the idea for a bit.”

Wade’s still quiet, but he manages a small nod as he looks up at Peter. There’s a defeated look in his eyes that makes Peter quickly look away.

**~*~**

It doesn’t quite feel real, if Peter’s being honest. The black graduation gown hangs weirdly on him, but then again, it hangs weirdly on everyone. Wade’s sitting a couple rows behind him, looking bored out of his mind. Peter can’t help but wonder how many times his family has gone through graduation. Logan didn’t even bother to show up this time around, but Wade doesn’t look the least bit bothered.

May’s sitting in the crowd with a large smile on her face, camera held protectively in front of her as she’s getting ready to take pictures of Peter walking the stage. Next to her sits MJ’s mom and Ned’s parents, each of whom are holding their own cameras.

When Peter gets his diploma, he can’t help but laugh as Wade cheers noisily from the crowd. The principal shoots him a flat look, but can’t reprimand him for it. Peter wonders if any of them will actually miss having Wade in their classes.

Afterwards, they all go out for dinner at a small restaurant in town. The entire place is packed with different families celebrating after the ceremony. May can’t stop smiling in pride at her nephew, and it only hurts later when she tells Peter her job’s moving her back to New York City.

If it had been the beginning of the year, Peter would’ve jumped at the opportunity to move back to the city. Currently, he and his aunt are trying to figure out a way to keep Peter in Maine. May wants him to go with her, but now that Peter’s eighteen and out of school, he can do whatever he pleases, as much as it hurts both of them at the decision.

May sets up an account at the bank in town with enough money to keep him at a cheap apartment on the edge of town. Peter gets a job at the bookstore May had been hinting at around his birthday, and he takes as many shifts as he humanly can. His aunt moving away had taken a huge hit at his mental health, but he does his best to keep his head above water.

His apartment is cramped, but it gets the job done. The only other ‘room’ in it is a bathroom that has enough room for a shower, toilet, and small counter space for a sink. His kitchen, living room, and bedroom are all combined into one space, with the kitchen running along the side of the wall in a short hallway leading to the front door. His bed’s pushed to the far wall with different clothes usually constantly scattered on it. There’s a dresser across from his bed, some drawers stuffed so full that they can’t close. Along the other wall is a desk where his barely held together laptop sits, half taken apart from him working on it. There’s a small dining room table that Peter’s converted into a TV stand, which he watches from where he sits in bed. May originally helped with the goal in keeping it tidy, but it only lasted about a week before it went into chaos.

Peter gets a decent discount at the bookstore, and the owner lets him browse the shelves when it’s either slow or he’s on break. Wade comes in from time to time to keep him company, going as far as to bring food for Peter during mealtimes. Peter uses these times to his advantage, looking up any myths and legends he can within the bookstore’s offerings.

They aren’t able to find too much. After all, the store is settled in a small town in Maine. Even if the owner did try to keep the shelves as stocked as he could, most of the books were about old lore within the town’s borders. Peter’s been to too many similar shops to not see a tourist guise when it’s there.

Peter’s slowly getting frustrated. He wants to be as prepared as he can on anything about the powerful group, but other than the book in Wade’s library, they haven’t been able to find much. There are tons of myths on strange creatures from the early days, but Peter doesn’t hold much faith to those. People then had a tendency to over-exaggerate and romanticize lore.

Sipping absentmindedly on his coffee, Peter reads the book in front of him silently. Wade’s playing a game on his phone, saying something to Peter every so often. Even if the books do end up proving to be not very useful, he still finds the stories within them fascinating. Wade enjoys mocking them too much to talk seriously about them, but he’s still a great listener. And when it comes to what Peter enjoys, he’s noticed that Wade’s willing to sit through anything he has to say.

The bell above the front door chimes, and an employee absentmindedly greets the customer. In the past, Peter’s wondered how much of it is second nature, and how much of it is the worker genuinely greeting them. However, instead of hearing chattering at the counter, the sound of a chair being pulled back near him has him looking up. It’s Domino, and she’s leaning close to Wade to whisper something to him. Before Peter can even open his mouth to greet her, she’s already standing up once again and walking back out of the shop.

Wade has an odd look on his face, and it only furthers Peter’s curiosity on what Domino told him. Instead of pushing it, however, Peter silently packs up his things before gesturing to Wade that they could leave. Thankful for the temporary distraction, Wade pockets his phone and follows Peter outside.

Even though it’s coming onto June, the wind is still nip enough to need a light jacket. Pulling his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, Peter walks silently next to Wade, neither having a destination in mind. It doesn’t take very long until Peter can’t help himself anymore.

“What did Domino say?” he asks, looking up at Wade.

“It’s nothing, sweet cheeks,” Wade replies, but the usual teasing in his tone falls flat.

“Wade? Are you alright?”

Wade nods before looking around a moment. Placing his hand on Peter’s lower back, Wade leads them off the sidewalk and towards a more secluded area near a small pond.

“Dom… it wasn’t good news, Pete,” he says carefully. He can’t meet Peter’s eyes. “Aldo and his crew… they moved into your neighborhood. I think it’s to be closer to you.”

“What should we do?” Peter asks softly, his heart racing nervously in his chest.

“Would you mind if I went home with you?” Wade asks instead. “Just to, like, keep an eye out on things? I’m not sure if that’s why Aldo did it, but it wouldn’t be a stretch, you know?”

“Yeah, of course,” Peter answers. “Honestly, I’d feel more comfortable with you there, anyway. I’m still rather shaken after my encounter with him.”

There’s a sad smile on Wade’s face. Peter knows from past experience he still feels guilty for everything that’s happened. Eyeing the necklace Peter still proudly wore, Wade lets out a soft sigh before gesturing to Peter to lead the way to his apartment.

When they get there, Peter has to hastily pick up things a bit, causing Wade to snort in response. Wade makes himself comfortable in the small cooking area while Peter turns on the TV to something random to distract the both of them.

The entire scene warms something in Peter’s chest. It feels like second nature to turn and watch Wade cook away in the kitchen. Peter isn’t taking in anything that’s playing on the screen in front of him, instead watching the way Wade moves effortlessly through the small apartment. He looks in his element cooking, even sending Peter sneaky smiles every so often as he does so.

Once lunch is done, Wade makes up two plates and hands one to Peter. They both sit on Peter’s bed, watching whatever is playing while eating. There’s a sense of domesticity in the air that Peter soaks in as much as humanly possible. Even with Wade talking animatedly next to him, Peter wants it to happen each and every day. Unable to help himself, Peter leans over and presses a quick kiss to Wade’s cheek. For the first time since he’s met him, Wade is stunned into silence.

“I’m sorry,” Peter says quietly, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

“No, it’s uh… it’s okay, Petey.” Wade gives him a small smile before taking their empty plates into the kitchen. He stands there a moment before moving to start cleaning up after himself.

A short while later, Peter falls asleep with his head on Wade’s shoulder, their hands tangled together on his lap.

**~*~**

His apartment feels too cramped for the sunny day that they’re given. Usually, he wouldn’t mind lounging around on his day off, but he needed to get out of the house. The sun is shining warmly on his face as he walks, causing him to smile a little at the feeling. Spring was Peter’s favorite season. The way the flowers and other natural living things sprout up or come out of hiding filled him with a pleasant feeling. It was simply an added bonus that the temperature was going up.

As he’s passing past a dirt road he’s never been down before, he’s suddenly filled with an urgent sense. He can’t help but slow his steps and start walking down the lonely road. The gravel under his feet crunches slightly under the weight of his steps. The road is lined with overgrown grass and wildflowers, trees dotting along the way and covering the road in a slight natural sort of ceiling. Loose rocks are accidentally kicked as he keeps walking, stirring up the dirt more and causing his already filthy shoes to get dusty.

Peter isn’t sure where he’s heading, but there’s an unconscious path he’s following. The road feels slightly creepy, but Peter doesn’t let it stop him. Soon, he’s coming up to an old rusty gate. Grass and vines are growing wildly along the fence, and Peter has to shake the gate a little to get it loose enough for him to slip through.

Peter finds himself in an old graveyard, most of the headstones broken or overgrown. He passes most of them, stopping only when he gets to a line of headstones that look as though even nature didn’t want to touch them. He only stops when he sees a familiar name on one of them.

“Tony Stark,” he reads off. “I didn’t know they were buried here.”

He kneels down and clears the bit of dirt that had fallen onto it. The ever-so-common feeling of familiarity hits him once more as he stares at the stone. Deep down, Peter feels a sense of mourning. Like he had the opportunity to learn from someone else, but instead he had missed it because of an evil man. He can’t help but feel angry because of it. Even if Peter didn’t know what he was going to do anymore, he knows that Tony would’ve been a great teacher.

There’s a sudden burning feeling spreading throughout him, nearly choking him in its intensity. He stands up shakily, feeling like he was seeing red. The graves in front of him suddenly don’t feel as inviting, and he’s desperate in his attempt to get away. The road he’s on doesn’t feel as whimsical, and his feet nearly tumble out from under him with every other step.

By the time he gets back to town, he’s sweating, and he just wants to get home. Faintly, he can hear his name being called by a familiar feminine voice, but he ignores it in his path home. When he gets home, Wade is already there waiting. But Peter can’t get any words out before he’s passing out just inside the doorway.


	4. Chapter 4

Peter’s head feels like it might split open from the intensity of the migraine he has. There’s some movement coming from the direction of his desk as Peter shifts while slowly waking up. When he’s able to peel his eyes open, Wade’s sitting on the edge of the bed, a glass of water in one hand and a couple ibuprofen in the other. Wade helps him sit up enough to get the water and medicine down before he’s curling back under the blankets. He can feel a sticky sheen of drying sweat on his forehead, and he shivers under the covers despite.

“How are you feeling?” Wade asks, his voice soft. He’s closed all the blinds in Peter’s apartment. Peter can’t help but wonder what Wade did while Peter was still unconscious.

“My head’s killing me, but other than that, I’m okay,” Peter tells him. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple hours. MJ swung by, but I told her you were taking a nap after a long shift.” Wade gently brushes a stray hair out of Peter’s forehead. Peter feels the urge to shiver again, but it wasn’t from being cold. “What happened?”

Peter doesn’t know himself, if he’s being honest. His head aches more from just trying to wrap his head around it. “Um… I was walking through town, and I felt this weird urge to go down this one road. When I got there, it ended up being an old cemetery. I found where the other group was buried.” He swallows thickly and curls tighter under his blanket. “I wasn’t sure why, but I ended up in front of Tony’s grave. Then I felt this weird… burning sensation? And I didn’t know what it was, so I ran home.”

There’s an odd look on Wade’s face. He appears nervous, or even worried, if Peter has to guess. Instead of replying to the story, Wade shakes his head and pats Peter’s hip lightly. “Why don’t you shower? I’ll make dinner.”

Peter scans Wade’s face for answers, but when he finds none, he simply sighs. He waves away Wade’s outstretched hand when he stands out of bed. After rummaging through his messy dresser for clean clothes, he heads to the bathroom. The minute the door is closed, though, there’s movement on the other side. Not wanting Wade to catch onto any eavesdropping, Peter starts the shower water and lets it run.

Unfortunately for him, however, Wade speaks too low for Peter to catch any part of the phone call. Letting out a slight huff, Peter turns from the door and sheds his clothes to hop under the hot spray.

When he reemerges, Wade’s keeping his hands busy in the kitchen. He’s making something complicated that Peter can’t even begin to keep track of. His head feels marginally better after the medicine, so he settles on his bed and plays a random history show on low while he waits for Wade.

Wade comes over with two bowls of soup. It smells delicious, and Peter can taste ingredients he  _ knows _ weren’t in his cupboard. “Did you buy me groceries?” he asks, amused.

Wade blushes. “Maybe. Are you mad?”

“If you keep making me food, how can I be?”

Wade grins, and Peter’s heart thuds wildly in his chest. He quickly shuts down the feeling by scooping more of the soup into his mouth. It isn’t until his bowl is half gone does he realise Wade’s sitting closer to him than normal. Peter blushes a little, but easily finds himself leaning into Wade more. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see a soft smile on Wade’s face. The two of them eat in a comfortable silence while the history show plays in the background. Peter can’t find it in himself to focus on it much, soaking up the soothing atmosphere from being around Wade. It makes him feel safer than he's felt since the incident, just sitting there quietly eating something Wade made for him. It’s domestic in a way that makes his chest ache for more.

Peter cleans up after dinner. If anything, it gives Wade a moment to settle with nothing to do with his hands. It doesn’t take long, and soon Peter finds himself once more sitting on his bed next to a nervous Wade. Since it got a positive reaction last time, Peter leans forward a bit and presses a quick kiss to Wade’s cheek. Wade seems to relax a bit, and even shoots Peter the soft smile he got a glimpse of earlier.

“This is going to sound a bit confusing, but… you’ve been chosen as the, uh, next host,” Wade explains. “For fire, anyway. That’s what happened. Tony chose you.”

“So no avoiding the inevitable, huh?” Peter asks quietly. “What happens now?”

Wade chews on his bottom lip. “Keep you away from Aldo, for starters. I don’t want his grimy hands on you. But... “ He lets out a soft sigh. “There’s… a condition for having powers such as this. For something as powerful as an element, anyway.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Peter jokes weakly. The fragile smile he has on his face quickly dies. “Wade?”

“All vampiric powers work in different ways,” Wade starts. He’s staring down at his lap and refusing to meet Peter’s eyes. “Some, like mine, could theoretically work if I was still human. The human heart, it’s… it’s really fragile, Petey. You being chosen as the fire host—”

“Means my heart would have to stop beating,” Peter concludes. “In order to be able to handle it.”

Wade nods sadly, finally looking up at Peter. “I never wanted this for you. Especially without giving you a choice. This is basically a death sentence for you.”

“I’ll still be here, though,” Peter argues weakly. “Not alive, obviously, but…”

Wade’s shaking his head before Peter’s even finished speaking. “Peter,” he says firmly. “This life isn’t for the faint of heart… no pun intended. Not everybody who turns can handle it. I nearly wasn’t able to.”

“What changed that?” Peter wants to reach out and hold Wade’s hand, but he isn’t sure if that’s overreaching. Wade seems to read his mind and grab his hand gently.

“Some things can’t be answered right now,” he whispers, playing with Peter’s hand. He lets out a heavy sigh. “Or, actually, I don’t like thinking about it.”

“Well. At least unlike Bella, I won’t have to die giving birth to a weird hybrid baby to turn,” Peter jokes, trying to lighten the mood. “Although, I guess we both have an evil guy gunning for us.”

Wade snorts. “Like Edward, though, I don’t wish this on you.” He looks at Peter sadly.

Peter sighs softly and stares down at his their hands. “Yeah, well. We can try to stop it all we want, or we can do things our own way.” He looks up at Wade, who can’t meet Peter’s eyes. “We’ve talked about this before, Wade. I’d rather have you change me than Aldo. I trust you.”

“I don’t trust myself, though,” Wade whispers. He clears his throat a minute before giving Peter a strained smile. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

Peter looks at Wade a moment before allowing the topic to be dropped. “Yeah, of course. You pick.”

Wade grabs the remote and flips through them before landing on a random Hallmark movie. Peter snorts, but moves slightly closer to Wade nonetheless. By the time the credits roll, Peter’s fast asleep with his head on Wade’s shoulder.

**~*~**

The town’s library is somewhere he hasn’t been often, despite exam seasons involving lots of last-minute cramming. It’s MJ’s home away from home, and she can likely navigate the tall shelves with her eyes closed. However, the particular reason he’s there, MJ can’t know about. Wade can’t either because he’s made an unspoken promise to the other man that he wouldn’t go poking around in vampire lore without him present. Peter’s still torn between figuring Wade’s doing it to protect Peter in some way, or he just wants to know himself.

Thankfully, the library seems well stocked on information regarding the town’s history. It isn’t surprising to see. Though the town is small, it still keeps rather thorough records. They’re not quite as accurate as the cities could be, but there’s still a lot to uncover.

First things first is finding more information regarding Tony Stark. Sure, the library in Wade’s house held plenty of information on him, but most of it was for his immortal life. Peter’s more curious to find out what he did during his life. It seems back then, the vampires were more concerned with his fire abilities than who he was as a person. It makes Peter sad to think about. Even as he’s reading, he feels an overwhelming sense of comfort coming from Tony as he reads the words of his life. A familial aspect, if he may be so bold.

There’s books on the others, as well, but they don’t hold the same interest to Peter as Tony does. One interesting thing about them all, however, was that none of them interacted with one another during their human periods. They all only met after being turned. He manages to find a copy of an old journal that once belonged to Bruce Banner. Most of it contains different scientific findings that are far more advanced than the period he comes from. Peter’s a little in awe, if he’s being honest.

It’s near the end that Tony’s name is mentioned for the first and only time. It isn’t anything massively important, more of a credit for helping with one of the experiments. Still, it makes Peter pause. He can’t help but get the feeling Tony recruited Bruce.

“What are you doing, nerd?”

Peter looks up, startled, to see MJ standing at the opposite side of the table he’s sitting at. It’s covered in multiple books with a notebook opened to his scrawl across multiple pages full of information he deemed worthy enough of jotting down. His first instinct is to clam up, which he does momentarily as he closes said notebook.

“Research,” he answers simply, hoping his nonchalant attitude doesn’t look suspicious. “I figured if I’m going to live in this town now, I may as well look into its history a bit.”

MJ hums, accepting the answer. “Well, Ned and I haven’t hung out with you in a while. Are you free?”

Peter can’t help but think of Wade as she asks. He forces himself to drop the thought. It can’t hurt to hang out with other people. “Yes, actually. I only had to work this morning.”

“Cool. Let me check-out and we can head to my apartment.” MJ smiles at him before heading to the counter.

Peter lets out a soft breath before putting all the books he was flipping through onto a return cart and hurriedly follows after MJ.

“So. Are you going to tell me why you were looking up facts about the Mysterious Five?” MJ asks casually as they walk. Peter nearly trips over his own feet.

“W-what? I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Peter asks, cheeks bright red.

“You’re a terrible liar. You know that, right?” MJ’s smirking, and Peter feels a stab of pain when he remembers the time they spent dating. It took MJ a while before they were back at this level of comfort. Peter’s glad she doesn’t harbor those feelings anymore.

“Yeah, well. I wasn’t lying back at the library, either. I am looking up the town’s history.” Peter shrugs. “I don’t know. Wade mentioned the group to me a while back, and you know how I can be. Until I know all the details, I can’t let go of it.”

MJ’s quiet for a moment. “I don’t know much about them, to be honest with you. I was never really interested in finding out if the legends are true. Most of that is all hear-say, though, so I would take it with a grain of salt.”

Peter snorts at the irony. MJ lightly elbows him.

“I’m being serious, Pete. With a town this small, there’s bound to be something made up to keep the locals entertained. That group was rather reclusive, so rumors flew.” MJ kicks a rock in front of her, and it goes bounding into the bushes on the side of the road. “Some people said they saw individuals who should be dead living in that house. As far as facts go, Bruce lived there alone until his death.”

“But you said the group…” Peter trails off, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah. A lot of townsfolk saw multiple people going to and from Bruce’s house, which is where all the rumors started. Bruce’s journal was used for medical advancement for _ years _ . Tony’s name being in it only fueled the fire.”

Peter hums in thought as they approach MJ’s apartment complex. It makes sense that they all lived in one house together after they were formed. Peter can’t help but wonder why they didn’t move around more, if all the townsfolk could easily recognize them.

“Ned might know more about them,” MJ offers after a moment. “He got really obsessed with them during his sophomore year. He probably still remembers all of the info.”

“Info on what?”

“I regret giving you a copy of my key,” MJ jokes. She sets her bag of books down on the coffee table. “Look who decided to join us today.”

“Hey, Ned,” Peter greets, sitting down next to him. He takes a glance around the small living room and realises, for the first time, he’s never actually been inside MJ’s apartment. He’s fairly sure the other two haven’t been in his, either. It stings a little when he hears Ned has a copy of MJ’s apartment key, but he knows it’s his own fault. “MJ was just telling me about the Mysterious Five? I’ve never heard that name before.”

“It’s what the locals called them,” Ned easily answers. It appears he harbors no hard feelings for Peter’s unintended distance. “They figured there were at least five different people living in Bruce’s house by the time he died. Nobody could figure out who they were, though.”

“Like I mentioned earlier, they thought at least one of them was Tony Stark because of his name in Bruce’s journal. That was about as solid of evidence as they could ever get their hands on.”

“Thing is, though, Tony Stark died  _ years  _ before then. It’d be physically impossible for him to be there. Unless immortality was discovered.” Ned’s excitement made Peter smile. Honestly, he forgot how excitable Ned could get about things.

“No one recorded where they’re buried, though. There was an old cemetery that was used, but then a weird flooding happened, and they had to find a new site. Which is the one in town now. No bodies were moved, and the location got lost to history,” MJ adds, unaware of Peter’s accidentally discovery of said cemetery. He wonders, briefly, if the flooding was on purpose so the cemetery would be relocated. He’ll have to ask Wade.

“Bruce was super into environmental sciences,” Ned says. “It wasn’t his main subject of focus, but he has papers after papers on it.”

Peter furrows his eyebrows in thought, some things starting to add up. “What was Tony’s main focus?”

“Trying to find new sources of power, maybe? He didn’t get very far with his technology before he died, though.”

Biting his bottom lip roughly, a thought goes through his mind. If the rest of the group had different interests in things involving their element, then why was he chosen for fire? Anything he likes doesn’t involve fire in any way.

“Look, nerds, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t exactly invite both of you over for a geek out. So either we order pizza and I crush both of you at Mario Kart, or you go to one of your guys’ places and continue making out. What’s your choice?” MJ asks, quirking an eyebrow as she holds up her phone, the Dominos number already plugged into her phone ready to call.

“Right, right. Sorry, MJ. You know my usual pizza order,” Ned apologizes, getting up to set things up for MJ’s gaming console.

“Cheese is fine for me, thanks,” Peter says distractedly.

His mind is elsewhere while MJ makes the call. Ned tries talking to him about something, but Peter’s already lost in his thoughts. It didn’t make any sense to him for Bruce to carelessly name drop Tony’s name like that unless it was done on purpose. For all intents and purposes, Bruce seemed far more careful than to do that. Still, though, for the town to catch onto that only meant they were doing it on purpose, or they were trying to hide from someone…

The whole subject continues to make Peter’s mind ache, even long after the subject itself has been dropped. Ned mentions offhand later that the town did see each member of the Mysterious Five as some sort of hero in their own right. Peter still isn’t sure why he was chosen out of everybody, but then again, some things will never make sense.

Hanging out with Ned and MJ proves to be a great tension reliever. He’s missed the two more than he thought, and even laughing along with them as MJ does, in fact, crush them at Mario Kart. It’s a nice slice of normality that Peter’s been craving ever since he moved into the small town. May moving back to New York only made him crave it more, though he would never dare tell her. Wade’s definitely helping, but letting the man hog all of his free time surely can’t be healthy, all things considered.

The pizza’s greasy enough to make him feel slightly sick after eating it, so he chooses to watch his friends play another game instead of joining in on it. Getting to relax and not worry about anything for an hour or so is nice in its ignorance. Plus his friends seem to be happier now that Peter’s with them. It’s enough for him to invite them to his place to hang out again soon.

“Finally allowing us dragons into your castle, princess?” MJ jokes, leaning back on the couch next to Peter after she wins another tournament against Ned.

Peter snorts. “No, I’ve just been busy.”

“With Wade?” MJ asks, playfully wiggling her eyebrows. “I went over there because you were wigging out in town, and he was there. Alone with you. Mighty suspicious, if you ask me.”

Peter blushes. “Shut up. And  _ no _ not because of him. Though we do spend a lot of time together.”

“I knew it!” MJ cheers, turning to Ned. “You owe me $5.”

“What?” Peter sits up, looking between his friends. “What was the bet about?”

“That you abandoned us for your boyfriend,” MJ answers, grinning as Ned hands over the money.

“He’s not my— I didn’t abandon—” Peter huffs. “I hate you both.”

MJ snickers, pressing an obnoxious kiss to Peter’s cheek. “Chill, dude. We’re happy for you.”

Him and MJ make eye contact, and there’s a little sparkle in MJ’s eye that tells him she’s happier for him than she’s letting on. Of course, Peter does still feel guilty that they weren’t able to find that happiness together, but they were able to remain friends. MJ wouldn’t ever hold their break-up over his head, anyway.

When Peter returns home, he’s unsurprised to find Wade already there. There’s a delicious smell filling the air, and Peter suspects it may be coming from the crockpot sitting on the counter.

“I wasn’t gone that long,” he jokes. He can’t deny that it smells great, though. “What is it?”

“Dom tried this new roast recipe,” Wade answers, walking over. “Wouldn’t tell me what’s in it, though.”

Peter lifts the lid and is hit with the steam. He can see the roast, potatoes, carrots, corn, and onions. There’s other spices in it, but it’s hard to tell what they are from look alone. “It smells great.” He then furrows his eyebrows. “If Domino made it, then why is it here?”

“She made too much. I was heading over here anyway, so she said you could have it.” Wade’s not looking at Peter as he says it, and it makes Peter smirk a little.

“Well tell her I said thank you,” Peter said, laying a hand on Wade’s bicep. Wade stiffens under the touch. “And also tell her that she can keep making food for me all she wants without using someone else as an excuse.”

Wade looks sheepish. “I just didn’t want you to think that I thought you didn’t know how to take care of yourself. I’ve been around so long, I got pretty good at cooking. And since you don’t really make that much at the bookstore…”

“Thank you, Wade,” Peter tells him. “It’s really thoughtful.” He presses another kiss to Wade’s cheek. “I can’t wait to try it.”

The roast ends up tasting better than it smelled. Not that Peter’s too surprised. Wade is a man of many talents, and cooking is clearly one of them. If anything, Peter’s noticed it keeps his hands busy, or else he’ll end up fussing with them in his lap.

Which is what he does once they’re finished eating. Like with the soup, any leftovers are stored in Peter’s fridge. They’re watching some cheesy movie that’s playing on a random channel. Wade doesn’t seem too into it, but he’s keeping up chatter about it anyway. In his lap, his hands are either fiddling with one another, or playing with the bottom of his shirt. A nervous habit Peter shares.

Reaching over, Peter gently grabs one of Wade’s hands. Wade stutters in his speech, blushing a little as their fingers laced together. He doesn’t waste much time in continuing his train of thought.

“The winter dance senior year wasn’t too bad,” he says abruptly. Peter doesn’t know what brought it on, but he’s long since stopped trying to figure out Wade’s thought processes. “They had nice decorations, that’s for sure.”

Peter hums in agreement. “MJ really liked the fairy lights they had hanging. I did, too, honestly. Fairy lights are so pretty.”

Wade’s playing with his fingers now. It makes Peter blush a little. “MJ looked really pretty.”

“Yeah, she did. She has an odd sense of style, but it definitely works on her.” Peter chuckles quietly, gently squeezing Wade’s hand. “You know… I feel bad admitting this, but I don’t think I ever really had a crush on her.”

“Then why’d you go out with her?” Wade asks. His voice is soft, like he wants to know but doesn’t want to push. Peter thinks that’s one of Wade’s best qualities.

“I don’t know,” Peter admits. “She’s a great girl, you know? Plus we’re still pretty close despite, so… I don’t know, it made sense at the time.”

Wade chuckles. “I’m surprised she ever wanted to date you. I saw your dance moves that night. Terrible.”

Peter gasps, playfully punching Wade in the shoulder. “I’m not that bad!”

“Maybe for someone who has no rhythm, sure. You’re at the top of that list.” Wade laughs as Peter pushes him over. “Alright, shorty. C’mon, I’ll teach you how to dance.”

“I know how to,” Peter grumbles, but lets himself be pulled up anyway.

Wade fiddles with his phone for a minute before hooking it up to Peter’s old stereo. He hums along as the first song that plays is a slow one.

“Please tell me you don’t have a playlist just for this occasion,” Peter says with a laugh, blushing when Wade pulls him close.

“Nah, just chose one of my random Spotify ones,” Wade answers.

Peter’s blush deepens as Wade’s hands settle on his hips. He responds by looping his arms around Wade’s neck, smiling a little as he stares up at Wade. Despite Wade’s ribbing, Peter knows the basic of slow dancing.

“Just don’t put your hands on my ass,” Peter teases, a bit breathless from their close proximity.

“No promises,” Wade responds, playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

Peter chuckles, slowly moving along with Wade. It’s intimate in a way Peter hasn’t felt with anyone else before, and it makes him not want to have it with anybody who isn’t Wade. For once, Wade’s quiet. Staring down at Peter like he’s got the entire galaxy in his eyes. It makes Peter’s heart thump wildly in his chest.

“Maybe you do have some moves,” Wade admits in a soft voice. For some reason, it makes Peter’s cheeks heat up more. One of Wade’s hands reaches up and gently cups Peter’s cheek. He finds himself subconsciously leaning into it. “So beautiful.”

Peter isn’t sure who moves first, but the first brush of their lips sends a jolt throughout his whole body. He’s about to press further when the song suddenly changes, filling the room with a cheesy early 2000’s pop hit. The suddenness of it makes Peter giggle as he pulls away.

“You have quite the taste,” he says, smiling at Wade.

Wade looks a little lost, but quickly shakes himself out of it and grins. “Nothing wrong with a little Britney.”

Peter opens his mouth to respond, but there’s an urgent knock on the door. They exchange a look before Wade leads the way to answer it. Peter wants to protest that since it’s his apartment, he can do it, but Wade’s already opening the door before he can voice them.

The first thing Peter notices about the stranger is the fact that she has a slight white aura surrounding her. Even though she’s clearly trying not to be intimidating, the power coming from her is nearly hard to stand. Her blonde hair is cropped short, and styled out of her face. Her blue eyes look desperate.

“My name’s Carol,” she says quickly. “I need Wade’s help, please. My friend’s hurt really badly, and we don’t know if she’ll be able to make it out of the area we’re in. Please, we need your help.”

“How can I help?” Wade asks, on edge. “I don’t know any medical things.”

“Your healing ability,” Carol presses. “You can help her, right?”

Wade narrows his eyes. “How do you know about that?”

“Look, I’ll explain once I know my friend is going to be okay,” Carol says. She then turns to look at Peter, and something in her eyes shifts.

“Wade, go help,” Peter says, breaking eye contact from the woman. “It doesn’t hurt to be helpful, you know.”

“Fine,” Wade caves. “Lead the way, glowy lady.”

Carol leads them towards a nearby cluster of trees. It’s at the beginning of the forest, and it makes Peter curious as to where they were going to within the thicket of trees. There’s a woman on the ground leaning against one of the trees. Her leg’s bleeding profusely, a stained article of clothing tied around it in attempts to stop it. There’s another woman and a man hovering near her, protecting her from anybody while Carol ran to get help.

“I found help,” Carol announces, getting the attention of the small group. “There was some sort of trap set up back here. Wanda didn’t see it and stepped right into it.”

“She’s lucky she didn’t lose her leg,” the man comments.

“Not now, Sam,” Carol tells him firmly.

“What are you all doing out this far?” Wade asks, kneeling on the ground next to Wanda. He peels back the cloth and winces at the sight of the wound. “What kind of trap was it?”

“I don’t know,” Wanda answers. “It vanished as soon as we got my leg free.”

Wade pauses a moment before shaking his head. He’s muttering something under his breath, but Peter can’t pick up any of what he’s saying. “It’s fixable, but it’ll need some time to heal on its own, as well. My ability isn’t as strong on others as it is on myself.”

“That’s fine. Thank you.” Wanda shoots him a grateful smile before hissing as Wade does what he needs to.

Peter shifts awkwardly from foot to foot as he stands in the area with the others. He hovers a bit closer to Wade than what is probably necessary, even though the others don’t give off any threatening sort of vibes.

The man, Sam, picks up on Peter’s discomfort. “Don’t worry, we’re the only ones in our coven. We aren’t apart of that large one nearby.”

The still unnamed woman gives him an odd look before focusing back on Wanda. She doesn’t seem interested in joining their conversation. Carol sighs softly, gently bumping her shoulder with Sam’s.

“Actually, we just left that coven. We were on our way out when we stumbled across the trap. I’m assuming they don’t want anyone entering or leaving the area,” Carol says, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Large coven?” Wade asks, hands pausing. He stares up at Carol. “The one with Aldo leading?”

Carol doesn’t look surprised that the pair know about it. “Yeah, that one. Aldo is a horrible leader. We’ve never wanted to be apart of whatever he has going on, but he recruited us under false pretenses.”

Wade looks at Peter. “We need to get you out of here.”

He hurries through the last of the healing, despite Wanda’s hisses of pain. When he’s finished, there’s some scarring, but she’s able to put weight on it. Without thinking, Wade grabs Peter’s hand and laces their fingers together.

“C’mon, we can go to Peter’s apartment for the time being. It’s getting late, and I don’t want to be out here for longer than necessary,” Wade instructs, already moving the way they came.

They get some odd looks when Wade leads them up to Peter’s small apartment. Peter doesn’t usually have anyone over who isn’t Wade, so seeing this small group of people causes some stares. Peter hurries to unlock the door and they squeeze into the space.

When everybody is situated, Wade’s quick to start an interrogation. “You guys are from Aldo’s coven? Why’d you leave?”

“Because he’s a maniac,” Wanda answers. “We were all told during recruitment different things to get us to join, but they all ended up being lies.”

Peter’s eyes scan over them. They all have an odd sort of glow to them that makes Peter question whether the other humans noticed it as well on their walk in. “Wait,” he says, blinking. “Are you the group of elementals that Aldo was talking about?”

Carol smiles a little. “Yes, we are. Which is why Aldo lied to us to get us to join. I was the only one who was still human when I was recruited. It was actually what tipped Aldo off to you in the first place. He knew what to look for.”

“So that’s how you knew who I am and where Peter lives,” Wade says. He puts his head in his hands after. “Fuck. That means he has someone watching you.”

“Peter’s necklace has prevented Aldo from being able to make a move yet, but yes. He has someone watching Peter at all times,” Carol says. “Aldo’s been searching for a fire user for years. When he sensed you, he grew desperate to get his hands on you. Usually he’d be more subtle about it, but he’s grown ansty over the years.”

Wade pulls on his hair in frustration, and Peter’s quick to reach over and gently tug his hands out. He gently squeezes one of Wade’s hands, bringing it onto his own lap and holding it between his own. “I’ll have to give you all necklaces of our coven as protection.”

“Wait, you’d really give us protection?” Carol asks in shock.

“Well, no matter what happens, Peter will end up in a coven with you all,” Wade admits. “It’s better to form bonds now before anything else, and it’s an old tradition to start with protection for the stragglers. Granted, my coven isn’t very big, but I know they’d be on board with this.”

The four of them look at one another in uncertainty before Carol nods quickly. “That will be lovely, thank you.”

“I’ll get a spell put on them, as well, like I did with Peter’s. That way, Aldo and co. can’t do tracking spells or anything on you.” Wade plays with Peter’s necklace a moment before smiling.

“Is there a safe house where we can stay at for the meantime?” Sam asks. He’s sat on the floor while the three girls share the bed.

Peter fidgets where he’s sitting at his desk, looking down at Wade. He’s sitting on the floor and leaning against the desk. He doesn’t want to be too far from Peter now that they know where Aldo may be hiding. One of Wade’s hands is still pressed between his own.

“They can stay at your place, can’t they?” Peter asks. “You have the room. I barely have the room for myself here, they can’t live with me.”

“I’ll have to discuss that with Logan before we give them the go ahead,” Wade tells him softly. “He’s on board for protecting you at all costs, but boarding new people might be asking too much of him.”

Peter lets out a sigh. “Alright, fair enough.” He then turns to the group. “You’re free to stay here for the night, at the very least. I should have enough blankets…”

**~*~**

The house doesn’t look as spacious as it did the last time Peter was at Wade’s. There’s more bodies filling the space, and despite still having the room, Peter feels a bit of claustrophobia licking up his spine.

Wade doesn’t waste any time in procuring the necklaces. They’re a variety of colors, and Peter finds a bit of amusement in them. Carol gets white, Valkyrie (as the quiet stranger told them she preferred to be called) gets blue, Sam gets green, and Wanda gets purple. The necklaces match their auras, and as later revealed, their powers as well.

“You’ll get an orange glow,” Carol tells him later. “It’s an obvious color for fire. Only stronger vampires usually see the auras. Most vampires just sense power coming from us.”

“But I can see them,” Peter points out, confused.

“Which is quite interesting.” Carol frowns a little. “Though I suppose it makes sense, considering. Even human, you give off quite the presence.”

“That’s what everybody keeps telling me,” Peter mutters to himself.

“You won’t be able to run from them forever,” Logan states a few days after the group made themselves at home with the coven. “Even with our protection over you, Aldo is a sneaky bastard. They found Peter.”

“They were also stalking him. They knew where to look for him,” Wanda says. “As far as I’m aware, they don’t know where you guys live.”

“No, they don’t. But that doesn’t mean they won’t or can’t find us,” Vanessa adds. She sighs softly. “We should probably prepare for the worst. Aldo will take Peter by any means necessary. We can’t avoid the inevitable now.”

Peter looks at Wade, who’s staring blankly out the window. He isn’t sure what the older man is thinking, but it makes him worried to see him so quiet. Usually, Wade would be in the middle of the conversation and adding his two cents in. It’s worrying to see him just listening.

“We trained for years under Aldo’s command,” Valkyrie says. “We were taught the best and fastest moves to end an enemy. Since none of us know how much time we have until Aldo finds us, it wouldn’t hurt to start any training as soon as possible.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Logan agrees. “There’s plenty of space in the backyard for training. There’s also a small gym in the basement if anybody wants to go there. Just clean up after yourselves. I don’t want any blood left on my shit.”

They all slowly meander their own directions after that. Carol, Domino, and Vanessa all stay in the living room to talk and Peter’s about to approach Wanda when there’s a hand on his arm.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” Wade says softly to Peter. “In the other room, preferably.”

“Yeah, of course.”

They head upstairs to Wade’s bedroom where they’re more likely to have more privacy to talk about whatever’s on Wade’s mind. He looks like he has something to say, but can’t figure it out yet. They sit next to each other on Wade’s bed, and Peter lets the other man collect his thoughts.

“Petey, I…” Wade sighs softly. “This isn’t something I ever wanted for you. The moment I first saw you, I… I don’t know. I had this instinctive urge to protect you, and that scared me. And then… you kept butting into my life.” He plays with a loose thread on his blanket. “Look, I’m shit with these feelings talks. I always have been. I’m really worried about you, Peter.”

Peter blinks at the use of his actual name coming out of Wade’s mouth. “Wade, I’ll be okay,” he says softly. “I have you. I have this entire coven.”

“That doesn’t always work,” Wade insists. He looks up at Peter, and there’s different emotions swimming in the blue of his eyes. Peter swallows thickly as he tries to read them. “Pete, I… I don’t mean to, like, patronize you or anything because you’re human, but  _ you are human _ . These vampires don’t fuck around. You could be seriously hurt.”

Peter tries for a small smile. “That’s not what you’re really worried about, is it?”

Wade quickly looks away. It’s a little bit before he speaks again. “No,” he admits in a whisper. “I’m scared to lose you. When Aldo finds you, he’ll stop at nothing to get his hands on you. He’ll turn you no matter what.”

The two of them are quiet as Wade’s admission sinks over them. “I’m not going anywhere, Wade. Not if I can help it,” he states firmly. “But I… I can’t just sit here, either, you know. I don’t want any of you dying to protect me. I’m not worth it.”

“But you are!” Wade stands up and starts pacing. His hands go to tangle in his hair. “Aldo is dangerous, Peter. Carol’s all but explicitly stated he’s willing to go to extremes to get ahold of you.”

Peter stands up as well. “Wasn’t Logan saying that the group’s power doesn’t work unless they’re willing to do it?” he asks, stopping Wade from his pacing. “Even if he does get to me, Wade, that’s not automatically saying he’ll get what he wants. I’m sure the others will agree with me on this. Five against one seems like pretty good odds to me.”

Wade sighs softly, any fight seemingly leaving him. His hands hover in the air a moment before dropping down to his sides. “Peter, I wasn’t changed into this willingly. I know what it’s like to have this type of life forced on you. I don’t… I’m not sure I can handle watching you go through that as well.”

“Oh,” Peter says softly. “Then do what we’ve been talking about Wade. You can change me. Everybody’s already said there’s no way of me getting out of this anyway! Let’s do it our way for once.”

“I can’t do that, Petey,” Wade whispers. “I don’t… I  _ can’t _ …”

Peter lets out a soft sigh. “Then what do you want?” he asks gently. “I’m on your side no matter what. Whatever happens, I’m fighting with  _ you _ .”

Swallowing thickly, Wade walks over to his bed and plops down on it again. Peter sits next to him again and doesn’t hesitate to take one of Wade’s hands between his own. It always seems to calm him down the best.

“Like I told you before, Logan was the one who saved my life,” Wade says. “Or, well. Whatever technicalities come with being a vampire. Anyway, he panicked and changed me. It was technically normal for him to do. Most vampires tend to change others when they’re on their deathbed or want to willingly become one. Which, granted, I don’t know  _ why _ , but people have their kinks.

“I wasn’t the kind of human who wanted to be a vampire, obviously. With the scarring I got from the fire, I hated him. Even with my newfound healing abilities, they stayed stuck on me. I forgave him later on and made peace with my immortality, but.”

“I won’t resent you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Peter says once he’s sure Wade won’t add anymore. “I’ve… strangely made peace with this.”

“You can’t say for sure until it happens, baby boy.” Wade’s going for joking, but it falls flat. He looks self-conscious half curled up on the bed. “You can say all the pretty words you’d like, but until you’re a vampire, they just look pretty.”

Peter bites his bottom lip. “That’s fair, I suppose.”

Wade sighs softly, gently pulling his hand from between Peter’s. His hands suddenly feel cold without Wade’s between them. Instead of pulling it away completely, however, he moves the hand to gently cup Peter’s cheek.

“Whatever will I do with you?” Wade whispers, the corner of his mouth twitching up a little.

He starts leaning forward, and Peter’s heart races when he realises what Wade’s doing. Peter easily meets him halfway, sighing softly when his lips finally meet Wade’s in a gentle kiss. It isn’t anything like movies or books say it is. No sparks, no fireworks. Peter does feel a sense of completeness as he slowly kisses Wade. There’s no hurry behind it, and it’s perfect for Peter. Though he didn’t kiss MJ a lot, and he knows he’s by no means a pro, kissing Wade feels like he’s been missing it all his life. Wade doesn’t mind his sloppy movements. If anything, Wade’s hand on his face seems to be encouraging Peter on.

By the time they finally part, Peter’s cheeks are flushed a delicate pink, and his eyes are wide as he looks at Wade. There’s a shine to the other man’s lips that Peter would find gross on anyone else. Strangely, Peter finds he likes it on Wade. Although that could just be because Peter put it there. He wonders if it’ll be like that every time. A part of him hopes so.

“I… really like you, Wade,” Peter whispers.

Wade lets out a soft chuckle. “I really like you, too, baby boy. I have for a while.”

Peter feels his cheeks darken at the nickname. Even though Wade said it only moments prior, hearing it now feels like he’s coming home. The words said in Wade’s low rumble strike a chord in Peter, one he never knew he had before now. He likes the way it sounds.


	5. Chapter 5

Flopping down on the bed with a groan, Peter feels his entire body aching. Wade chuckles softly as he sits next to him on the bed. There are new bruises sprouting up along his arms that weren’t that before training, and he can already tell he won’t be able to move his limbs much come morning.

“Carol really went hard on you tonight, huh?” Wade asks, grinning down at the younger man.

“I can’t feel my arms,” Peter says, wincing as he moves closer to Wade. “Can we please sleep in tomorrow?”

“I don’t know what the others have planned, but I’ll let you sleep as long as possible,” Wade answers. He sighs and lays down, smiling as Peter lays his head on his chest.

“God, you’re so comfortable,” Peter says, smiling into Wade’s chest. “Better than any pillow.”

Wade laughs, running his fingers gently through Peter’s curls. “You’re warm and I love cuddles, so I guess you can stay.”

Peter chuckles softly, settling further into the comfort of Wade’s embrace. “I’m scared, you know,” he admits after a moment. “Even with all the training we’re getting, I still can’t help but feel like we’re unprepared.”

“We’re all going to do our damndest to keep you safe,” Wade states, his voice firm and with no room to argue, not that Peter wants to, anyway. “Our group may not be as large as Aldo’s, but we  _ will _ be prepared to the best of our abilities.”

Peter sighs softly. “It’s just… you’re all doing this because of me. Risking your lives, overextending yourselves. This all started because my aunt got a job in this town.” He’s quiet a moment, a thought hitting him. “Do you think Aldo would still come after me if I didn’t move here?”

Wade’s quiet himself, which is slightly unusual for him. Peter lets him collect his thoughts, though. 

“I think so,” he admits in a soft voice. “Granted, you moving here made it a hell of a lot easier for him to find you, but I think you were always fated with this.”

“Fate is stupid,” Peter mutters, earning a laugh from Wade. “Why can’t we make our own happy endings?”

“Because then the author wouldn’t have anything to write about,” Wade says matter-of-factly. Peter has no idea what Wade’s talking about, but he loves hearing his boyfriend’s voice and the way his chest rumbles under his ear.

“What if I want you to be my happy ending?” Peter asks, smiling into his boyfriend’s chest. He looks up at Wade, who’s just staring at him fondly. “What?”

“Sappy nerd,” Wade teases, pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “You’re lucky I like you so much.”

“How long  _ have _ you liked me for?” Peter asks softly, almost afraid of the answer, burying his face back into Wade’s chest.

Wade runs a hand along his back, making Peter shiver and cuddle impossibly closer to Wade in response. It earns him a kiss to the top of his head, and he smiles into Wade’s chest. “Honestly? Since I first laid eyes on that cute little ass.”

Peter’s blushing hotly as he lightly hits Wade’s chest. “Oh, shush,” he says playfully. “I actually liked you since I first met you, too, to be honest. Or, at least, you caught my interest. Even though I’ve known I was bisexual since I was fourteen, I’ve never really been interested in guys to the same extent. So, you know, it scared me a bit, and MJ was there and she liked me, so…”

Wade stifles a laugh in Peter’s hair, causing Peter to fight hard not to smile. “You’re really lucky she was willing to keep talking to you after that shit happened.”

Peter rolls his eyes fondly. “You’re so mean to me, why am I dating you?” he asks jokingly, looking up at Wade with a grin.

“Because I’m so damn irresistible,” Wade easily replies, pressing a wet sounding kiss to Peter’s forehead.

“Wade,” Peter grumbles, wiping at his forehead. He can’t help but feel a wave of affection for the man under him anyway. He would go to the ends of the Earth for him, if he asked. That thought doesn’t seem to scare him as much as he thought it would.

**~*~**

“Figured I may find you out here,” a female voice says, startling Peter a bit.

He turns his head to see Carol strolling towards him, a soft smile on her face. Peter’s sitting on a fallen tree on the edge of the clearing behind Wade’s house. It’s far enough away that the others seem to get a hint that he wants to be left alone while remaining in sight. There’s so much on his mind lately that he just needs to be alone for a little bit with his thoughts. Granted, he wasn’t expecting anyone to follow him, but he doesn’t mind Carol’s company.

“Why’d you come out here looking?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow as she sits next to him.

Carol sighs softly, staring out at the expanse of trees a moment before she answers. “I told you before that Aldo recruited me while I was still human,” she starts. There’s a flicker of an emotion on her face that Peter can’t place before she quickly schools her expression. “Aldo was the one to personally turn me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, to be honest. The person who turns you… there’s almost a weird bond for a while. It took years for me to finally shake him off.”

Peter picks at some dead bark. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I thought Aldo was a good guy at the time.” Carol smiles sadly. “Wade’s a good guy. I know that much for sure. You can tell by the fact he doesn’t want you to change to this life. People like you and I who can have the choice… it isn’t something to be taken lightly.”

Peter looks away from Carol and sighs softly. “Tony chose me, though.”

“Answer me this: would you willingly choose this life if you weren’t the next firekeeper?” Carol asks, raising an eyebrow. “If you weren’t being hunted down by an evil vampire, would you even want to become one yourself?”

“Why did you choose to, then?” Peter counters, ignoring the question.

Carol gives him a warning look, but sighs and answers anyway. “Peter, you have people who love you. Humans. I didn’t. My partner, Maria, and our daughter were killed in a car accident. In one afternoon, my whole world was wiped out. And then this guy comes along and says I have a bigger purpose. I figured, you know, I have nothing else to lose.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispers. “I…”

“Don’t worry. I didn’t come out here to guilt you.” Carol chuckles softly, squeezing his shoulder gently. “I’m just saying that maybe you shouldn’t act on this so hastily. I can see from the way Wade looks at you that he doesn’t want you to have to live the same life he and his family do. The way all of us have to. Immortality may seem like a great thing in theory, but it’s a lonely life.”

“I don’t want to put anybody else at risk for my sake, though,” Peter says softly. “Sometimes it feels easier just to give in and turn, so I can be on par with the rest of you.”

Carol’s smile turns sad. “Don’t give up your humanity to help us in this one battle. There will be many more in our future. And I know every single person in there would rather you stay human and keep living as one, than turn just so we have an extra set of hands on the field. I’m not training you out of pity, Peter. I know one day the inevitable will happen. I’m more… preparing you for later. Plus, Wade asked me to. Said you should be just as prepared in case of anything.”

“Thank you,” he tells her sincerely.

“I’m always willing to talk to you, if you need it.” She squeezes his shoulder once more before standing up. “Wade’s pretty worried about you, by the way. He knows you need the space, but I swear if you’re out here for any longer, he’s going to wear a good sized path on the floor.”

Peter laughs. “Alright. I’ll be in soon.”

He stays out there for a few more minutes before he stands from his spot. With the sun no longer there to keep him warm, he shivers a little in the cooler temperature.

Wade’s at his desk when Peter enters his room. The nervous energy Carol mentioned seems to have turned into an intense focus on the project in front of him. It looks like some sort of carving, which is something that Peter didn’t even know Wade liked doing. Wade doesn’t seem to hear Peter enter, though, so he uses this to his advantage.

“What are you doing?” he asks, setting his hands on Wade’s shoulders and getting close to his ear.

Wade yelps, nearly cutting himself with the tool he was using. He whirls around to glare at the person behind him, but softens when he sees it’s just Peter. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Aren’t you technically already dead?” Peter teases, sitting on Wade’s lap.

Wade sets the tool down before wrapping his arms around Peter’s waist to hold him. “Yes, but I’m told I’m very dramatic.”

Peter hums softly, wrapping his arms around Wade’s neck and kissing him sweetly. “Carol came outside to talk to me.”

“What did you guys talk about?” Wade asks. There’s a calm look on his face that he only reserves for when he’s alone with Peter. It makes something in Peter warm when he realises he’s privileged with seeing Wade vulnerable.

“She was telling me about her human life.” Peter lightly plays with a strand of Wade’s hair. “She doesn’t want me rushing into turning if I can help it.”

“I agree with her,” Wade says, even as he melts under Peter playing with his hair. “I don’t want you to become like us if I can help it.”

Peter hums softly. “I don’t like the thought of anybody getting seriously hurt because of me.”

“I know, baby boy.” Wade kisses the tip of his nose, causing Peter to scrunch it. “Unfortunately, this isn’t something we can avoid forever.”

“This feels very much like  _ Twilight _ . I don’t know how to feel about it,” Peter admits with a laugh. “Oh god, that makes me Bella, doesn’t it?”

“At least I don’t sparkle,” Wade says, pressing a couple kisses onto the younger’s neck. “And I don’t really thirst for your blood. Like, you smell really good, Petey, but that could just be your scent and not your blood.”

“At least you know I shower.”

“Sunshine, you could smell like an absolute garbage dump, and I’d still think you were the greatest thing on Earth,” Wade says seriously, causing Peter to blush hotly.

“Stop being so weirdly charming. It sends conflicting messages.” Peter covers Wade’s mouth with his hand and squeaks when Wade licks it. “What the hell, Wade? Gross.”

“Darling, you can have my tongue wherever you want,” Wade says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Peter stands up with a groan, though he’s still smiling. “You still have that playlist on your phone?”

“I made a better one for you, sweet cheeks.” Wade pulls out his phone and types something in before he hooks it up to his speakers. “This one has much better music to dance to, I promise.”

“It better,” Peter teases, falling easily into Wade’s arms as the music starts up. “Because we may have a talk about your taste in music if it doesn’t.”

“Everyone’s a critic.” Wade presses a kiss to Peter’s temple.

Peter hums softly as the two of them fall into an easy rhythm as the music plays around them. Wade was right when he said the music is far better than his other playlist. The thought makes Peter smile as the two of them sway to the music that’s filtering through the speakers.

“No interruptions now,” Wade murmurs, pulling Peter in for a long kiss.

Unable to help himself, Peter smiles into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of being pressed so close to Wade. When they finally pull apart, they’re both smiling at one another. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, being so close to Wade.

“Hey, love birds,” Vanessa says as she waltz into the room. She’s smirking when she sees Peter and Wade’s position. “Well, I see the true mates thing still exists between you two.”

“Ness…” Wade pleads softly, pulling away from Peter. He misses the warmth coming from his boyfriend.

“True mates?”

“Why’d you come in here anyway?” Wade asks. “Without knocking. Pete and I might’ve been in the middle of something!”

Peter blushes as Vanessa just rolls her eyes. “Peter seems like the type to be loud in bed. I would’ve heard.” Peter opens his mouth to respond, despite his bright red face, but Vanessa continues. “Wanda’s leg injury is acting up, and none of us can figure out why.”

“Acting up how?” Wade asks, brushing past Peter and hurrying out.

Peter follows behind them while they head into the living room. Wanda’s laying on the couch, not awake, but still breathing. Or, Peter hopes she is anyway. She isn’t exactly moving, but she doesn’t actually need air. What is strange, however, is the way her injury is glowing a slight purple.

Wade doesn’t waste any time before he’s kneeling right in front of her legs. Peter still doesn’t fully understand how Wade’s powers work, if he’s being honest. There’s a slight glow coming from where Wade’s working, but it isn’t too bright.

There’s a loud pounding coming from the front door, startling them all. Logan starts towards it, but people are already knocking it down and pouring in anyway.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Logan growls out.

“We’re here to collect what’s ours,” one of them says calmly, already heading towards Carol, Sam, and Valkyrie.

Domino quickly steps in front of Peter. Wade has yet to move where he’s hovering in front of Wanda, only moving when he’s forcibly yanked away by one of Aldo’s goons. “Wade,” Peter gasps out, watching as the man who pulled him off turns to swipe at Wade.

Aldo comes strolling in just then, smirking wickedly. The keepers he’s so desperately trying to capture all crowd around Wanda on the couch. Nobody makes any move to get the guard off of Wade, making Peter frustrated with the entire situation.

Wade pulls at the hands holding him, snarling at Aldo. “You’re a bastard, you know that? An absolute heartless  _ bastard _ . They left you for a reason.”

Aldo lets out a sinister sounding chuckle, making Peter move subconsciously closer to Domino in fear.

“You see, despite your little charms protecting these keepers, I will always be one step ahead,” Aldo says, smirking. “I knew they would try to leave. I put a charm on the trap so they would lead us right to you.”

“A tracking charm,” Vanessa says, eyes widening. “I thought those were illegal?”

“They are,” Wade speaks up, finally pushing the guard off of him. “It doesn’t surprise me that this asswipe doesn’t care anyway.”

Aldo makes some sort of gesture to his guards, and all hell breaks loose. They all start attacking the small coven, going for the keepers first to drag them out. Luckily, despite Wanda being out of it, they’re a bigger help than initially thought. Their moves easily counter the guards’ and keep them away from both the unconscious Wanda and the human Peter. Domino does her best to cover Peter while Wade is otherwise occupied.

It turns into chaos. Peter’s heart is in his throat every time Aldo’s men get any sort of hits on Wade. The entire reason this mess is happening is because of  _ him _ , and he hates having that sort of knowledge. Even though Wade can heal, he can still get hurt. And needs a reprieve in order to use his powers. They don’t just happen because he wants them to.

He yelps when someone goes flying through one of the nearby walls. He can’t tell if it’s one of Aldo’s guards or one of the coven’s. An angry redhead comes storming towards him and he panics and grabs a nearby vase , swinging it and hitting her smack in the head. She’s dazed enough that Domino’s able to catch sight of what happened and takes her out.

There’s more hissing and growling coming from around the room that Peter would ever think he’d have to listen to. It’s a bit dizzying, and it leaves his heart racing nervously. He’s scared, obviously, but he hates seeing how animalistic everybody is becoming in order to keep him safe. The thought settles in his stomach like a rock.

With them distracted, Peter uses it as an opportunity to slip out the back. He may not be able to fight them, but he can still do something to lessen damage and casualties. He isn’t positive if he’s being followed past a vain hope and a desperation to get away.

His legs are starting to burn from the strain, breath coming in heavy pants the longer he runs. Peter makes the mistake of glancing over his shoulder. The second he does, there’s someone coming from the side and pushing him hard into a nearby tree. Vision swimming, he tries to blink away the spots and shake his head clear. Once he catches his breath, he freezes when he sees who’s pinning him against the tree.

“Is it too late to wish it was one of your guards here?” he jokes weakly, trying his best to squirm out of the tight hold.

“You have been an absolute thorn in my side since the moment you moved into this despicable town,” Aldo hisses, slamming Peter into the tree. “If you had only listened like Carol did, your precious little coven wouldn’t be in danger.” He slams Peter into the tree again.

Peter feels like he’s about to black out. His head is roaring in pain, and every part of him is on edge from being so close to Aldo. He screams when he feels two sharp teeth in his neck.

Then everything goes black.

**~*~**

It takes him a while to come to. His head still feels like there are hammers pounding at it from the inside out, but he’s able to open his eyes without much difficulty. He’s lying on a cot with a thin blanket and a pillow that’s seen better days. Despite the darkness of the room, he’s able to see everything with a sharp clarity.

Similar to the last time Aldo took him, Peter finds himself in another basement--although, unlike last time, he isn’t chained to the wall, and he was made somewhat comfortable in the small room. He spots a window along one of the walls and quickly heads towards it. Pushing the curtains to the side, flinching a little against the sudden onslaught of light, he tries with all his might to push the window open. It doesn’t even budge. There are weird looking screws holding it in place along the sides, and he nearly cries when he realises he won’t be able to get out.

Looking outside, Peter can’t see anything of significance to tell where he is. There’s a small part of him, deep down, that feels as though he isn’t even in Maine anymore. How long was he out for?

A loud rattling comes from somewhere behind him, and he turns to see Aldo walking down a set of stairs, a tray in his hands. There are a couple bags on it, and Peter feels sick when he sees that they’re red. There’s only one thing that could mean.

“These should hold you off for now,” Aldo says, setting the tray down on the bed.

“I would really rather not find out,” Peter says stubbornly. His throat is burning with a need to drink something, but he has the sneaking suspicion that water won’t quench it, no matter how much he wishes it would.

Aldo chuckles. It’s a dark sound that sends a shiver down Peter’s spine. “Then you won’t last very long, little firekeeper. As a newborn, you need to feed on blood in order to survive.”

“Newborn?” Peter asks dumbly. He already knows the answer, had a feeling since the moment he woke up in this damn place. But if there’s anything that Peter’s best at, it’s pretending, even for a brief moment, that everything isn’t what it seems. That he can will it to be something else. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m eighteen. Not a newborn.”

Aldo snarls, sending another shiver through Peter. “I don’t have time to play such foolish games. I’ve made you a vampire to complete my collection. Now I have all the keepers at my fingertips, and I intend to use you the way I wish.  _ No one _ will be able to stop me now. Not even that stupid little coven. You’re  _ mine _ .”

“They’ll still find me,” Peter says stubbornly. He reaches up to touch the necklace Wade gave him, feeling scared when he doesn’t feel its comfort hanging around his neck.

“They will have a very difficult time in doing so,” Aldo replies. He composes himself and the smirk Peter has always hated finds its way back onto his face. “You’re a part of this coven now, Peter. While you were transitioning, we came back to our home. You’ll learn to love it here. The other keepers have.”

Aldo leaves after that, leaving the tray with the blood bags sitting on the cot. There isn’t the familiar sound of a lock clicking on the door, but Peter doubts he’ll be able to get very far even if he does escape.

With his throat feeling like it might start clawing at him if he doesn’t get anything to drink, Peter reluctantly makes his way back towards the cot. The thought of drinking the bags’ contents makes him feel sick, but with little choice in the matter, he picks one up.

Carol comes down a couple hours later, a tray full of something more appetizing in her hands. She smiles sadly when she sees the tray and empty bags thrown across the room.

“I see Aldo’s already brought you your first taste,” she says, sitting on the bed. She sits by Peter’s legs and he stretches out on the uncomfortable cot.

Despite his throat feeling better after drinking, his stomach still swirls uncomfortably. “This isn’t how I imagined turning,” he says quietly. He picks at the pillow under him and sighs. “Why are you here?”

Carol sighs softly. “Some of the guards followed us into the woods. We just gave our necklaces to Vanessa and Ellie and left peacefully. Considering everything, we didn’t want to cause any more harm. Last I heard, Logan was complaining about repair costs for the house.” She hands the tray to Peter when he sits up. “Here, figured you could use some food.”

“Thank you,” Peter says quietly, giving her a small smile. He takes a bite of the sandwich prepared for him and is thankful that it covers the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth. “Knowing Wade, he’ll throw himself into finding me and forget to care for himself. I hope Vanessa at least forces him to sleep and eat.”

“I’m sure she will.” Carol smiles at him. “They all really care about you. They were all upset when they found out Aldo got ahold of you.”

“Do you know anything about Wade? How’d he react?”

“The battle wound down after you and Aldo left. The minute he could, Wade was following after your scent. We got there after you were already taken,” Carol tells him sadly. “We aren’t sure how Aldo masked your scent while moving you out, but Sam figures it was because of your transitioning. Your scent became mixed and nobody could recognize it. Wade found your necklace on the ground by one of the trees where your scent was strongest at and went ballistic. He refused to let anyone else touch it.”

Peter keeps his gaze on the food in front of him as he eats. Carol doesn’t seem to be in any hurry, but he still doesn’t want to keep eating in front of her. He finishes it quickly and stands up, collecting the other tray. He hesitates when he sees the empty blood bags, but Carol’s brushing past him and picking them up.

“C’mon, the others are waiting upstairs,” she says softly.

The upstairs doesn’t look much more grand than the basement did. A small living room crammed with a couch and recliner in the corner and a small TV playing the news in front of them. The kitchen isn’t much to write home about, either. Enough for the necessities, but not much else. There’s a set of stairs next to the couch leading to what Peter assumes is the bedrooms and bathroom.

“Cozy,” Peter drawls sarcastically. “Aldo really went all out for us, huh?”

Valkyrie snorts. “He doesn’t give much of a shit for us as people,” she tells him. “We’re more like pets he takes out whenever it suits his needs.”

Peter makes a face. “No wonder you guys wanted to leave.” He sighs softly and peeks out the window. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple weeks,” Wanda answers where she’s curled up in the recliner. “Aldo didn’t want to risk anybody finding you while you transitioned, which is why you were in the basement.”

“Heaven forbid that.” Peter snorts and sits on the ground in front of where Wanda’s sitting. She hums softly and reaches a hand down to lightly play with Peter’s curls. “So… what happens now?”

“Aldo will want you trained at some point soon,” Sam says. “The sooner you become used to your new vampire body and the powers you now possess, the better.”

“It’s typically better to train a newborn to use their powers,” Valkyrie adds. “They’re new and reckless. You need to control them before it turns into a bad habit.”

“When will that happen?” Peter plays nervously with his sleeves, pulling them over his hands and playing with the bunched up material. “How is the coven going to find us?”

“I don’t think they will,” Carol admits softly. She’s sitting on the floor with her back to the couch and holding a book in her hands, but she’s nervously moving it from hand to hand rather than reading it. “Peter, you have to understand, we’re a long way from where they are. They have no way of looking for us, or even knowing where to start. There are so many different scents among Aldo’s guard that trying to locate any of ours is next to impossible.”

Peter’s heart drops to the bottom of his stomach. The wave of emotions that crashes over him causes him to wish he and May never left New York. May’s thankfully back in the city, but now Peter’s locked up in a house with no idea where he is. For miles and miles around the house are trees. There’s a path leading from the front door to what Peter assumes in the main house, but it’s blocked by the cover of trees.

“We’ve all tried leaving before,” Wanda says softly. “At different points. Alone, together, it doesn’t seem to matter; no matter what we do, Aldo always seems to find us.”

Peter closes his eyes and wills away the tears he can feel prickling at his eyes. Wanda continues running a hand through his hair, and he feels someone else sliding up next to him. Without even looking, he knows it’s Carol that pulls him close. Her scent reminds him of his winter back with Wade. Clean, slightly biting, but familiar and comforting. Like the middle of a snowball fight.

“I want Wade,” he whispers, cuddling close to Carol. “I want my home.”

**~*~**

Peter hits the ground hard, the air rushing out of him. He quickly catches his breath before rolling and swinging his leg out, knocking Wanda’s feet out from under her. He’s in the process of getting up when she shoots a beam of purple at him. Peter quickly dodges it before throwing a small fireball in her direction.

Wanda scrambles up and runs towards him, already swinging back her sword. Peter barely has time to grab his own before it’s coming down on him. The edge of the sword cuts along his arm and he hisses in pain.

“God dammit,” he growls, using his frustration to swing his sword back at Wanda.

She blocks his attack and uses a beam of purple to send him flying back, his sword clattering elsewhere and out of reach. Wanda doesn’t give him any mercy, already heading towards him and swinging her sword at him. Peter yelps and scrambles back in time for her sword to hit the ground. It gets stuck temporarily and it’s enough time for Peter to get on his feet and grab his own.

He waves his hand along his sword’s blade so it catches alight. There’s a pleasant heat close to his hand, but he doesn’t feel scared of being so close to the flame anymore. Feeling his power humming just under his skin, he rushes towards Wanda and swings down, missing Wanda’s shoulder by mere inches.

“You’re improving,” Wanda compliments, grinning wickedly. Her eyes suddenly glow bright purple. “But I’m still better.”

Peter’s mind blanks out momentarily. He doesn’t know where he is, but he can hear Wade’s voice, just out of reach. When he tries calling back, he finds he can’t move his mouth. Everything comes jolting back when his back hits the ground again and his own sword is pointing at his throat.

“I feel like that’s cheating,” Peter says, relaxing against the ground.

Wanda huffs out a laugh, lowering her guard. She helps Peter back up and hands him his sword. “It’s like you setting fire to your weapon. Use your powers to your every advantage.”

“You’ve gotten a lot better this past month,” Carol calls out, grinning widely. Behind her, Valkyrie and Sam are playing a game of cards. The four of them swap out each time to help Peter with his training. “I’m impressed with the thought of the fire sword. That was sweet.”

Peter laughs, walking over and grabbing his water bottle. Even though his vampire body doesn’t work the same way as his human body did, Peter still likes doing small familiar comfort things. Like drinking an entire bottle of water after an intense workout. He didn’t even break a sweat.

“Spur of the moment thing, I suppose,” he replies. “I hate using my powers to hurt. They’re more, uh,  _ ouchy _ than yours.”

“Did you just say what I think you did?” Sam asks, raising an eyebrow. “Are you five?”

“Mentally or physically?” Peter retorts, causing Sam to snort.

Peter tosses his empty water bottle down onto the ground before stretching his arms out, sighing happily as he did. He lays down on the ground afterwards, appreciating the breeze. It’s nearing autumn now and it makes something in Peter twist uncomfortably. Soon he’ll have been in Maine for a whole year. How drastically his life has changed in that short of time…

“Peter,” Carol says softly, breaking Peter from his thoughts. He’s silently glad for the distraction. “You know in order to have more control over your powers, you have to use them more. None of us mind, you know. It’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“But it still hurts, even if it doesn’t leave a scar,” Peter replies. “I’d rather not burn you guys alive despite nothing happening to you physically. Mentally it’s a whole different thing, and it lasts a lot longer.”

Valkyrie rolls her eyes. “Drama queen,” she mutters. “As if we don’t already have enough nightmarish memories to last a decade.”

“Val…” Wanda warns lightly.

Valkyrie goes quiet, shooting Peter a pittied look before going back to her game with Sam.

“C’mon, I’ll train with you,” Carol offers, standing up. “Our powers complement one another. It could be useful on the battlefield.” When they make it to the middle of the clearing that they train in, she turns and faces him. “Oxygen is one of the most important components of keeping a fire lit. Considering you don’t need anything to get a flame going, let’s just assume it will be the  _ only _ thing to keep it going.”

Peter nods, letting the now familiar warmth collect in his palms. His hands light up in small flames, bringing a proud smile onto Carol’s face.

“Remember when you couldn’t even command it to come to your hands?” she asks, circling him and watching as he concentrates on keeping the flames lit. “Soon it will become second nature, like all things do.”

Peter can’t help but feel fascinated as he watches the flames lick at his skin, but cause no damage. He’s been able to pick up on tricks quicker with each day that passes. At the beginning, he could barely ignite a flame. Now, a month later, and he can keep flames lit for long periods of time. They haven’t tested  _ how _ long, though.

“Think fast!” Carol says, making Peter jump. She cups her hands before sending a blast of wind at Peter.

The flames in his hand suddenly double in size, going up his arms quickly. He panics, not used to the quickness of the flame quite yet, and goes stumbling down. Though it doesn’t affect anything on his person, the grass under him catches light.

“Shit!” Peter curses, trying to pat out the flames but only making it worse.

A blast of water sprays from somewhere in front of him, drenching him and putting out the fire. When he looks up, Valkyrie is standing above him unamused. She helps him up before shooting a glare at Carol.

“What happened to introducing him to his powers slowly?” she asks, annoyed. “You could’ve been the reason this idiot catches the forest on fire.”

“Hey!” Peter squawks, but quiets when Valkyrie glares at him.

“We don’t have time to keep babying him, Val,” Carol says sternly. “We don’t know when Aldo is going to come back and start making his demands out of us. We need to be ready for everything. I’m sure people have already caught wind that Aldo’s made his own Powerful Five.”

“Peter will be more of a hazard than an asset if we push him too quickly too soon,” Sam pipes up. “He’s still a newborn, Carol.”

Carol sighs softly, running a hand over her face. “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just… how many years do we have on Peter? We had the luxury of time because we weren’t complete. Now we are, and we’re at risk of being shipped out wherever Aldo wants us.”

“I remember Wade mentioning something to me a bit ago,” Peter says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “He said that our powers combined will never work unless we will them to. Basically, if even one of us doesn’t want to bend to Aldo’s will, it won’t work.”

“That could work in our favor,” Valkyrie says quickly. “Aldo hasn’t dug too deep on the finer details. He basically went after any and all facts he could on the last group's powers and how they chose their next hosts.”

“Won’t he find out sooner or later?” Wanda asks, crossing her arms over her chest. “I feel like this is something we should only take advantage of when it’s the right moment.”

“We can’t let Aldo get away with anything,” Peter tells them firmly. “I refuse to use my powers for anything malicious. Even if you guys don’t agree, me not going along with it will still affect our powers.”

“He’s right.” Carol roughly bites her bottom lip. “This will actually give us an advantage. Even if he does figure it out, he doesn’t exactly have a way of forcing us to use our powers. No one does.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t try,” Valkyrie says with a snort. “When have you known Aldo to give up?”

Peter runs a hand over his face. “We need to figure out a plan. We all know Aldo isn’t going to wait forever before he starts using us as a weapon.”

“What if we act like our powers don’t mesh well together?” Carol suggests. “There’s nothing guaranteeing that just because we have these powers that means it’ll be an automatic success.”

“But we were all chosen,” Peter points out. “Likely when we were all still human. The last group wouldn’t choose us if they didn’t know we’d work well together.”

“That’s what Aldo won’t know,” Valkyrie says, quickly getting on board with Carol’s line of thinking. “Aldo never watches us train.”

“So he doesn’t know how our powers work,” Wanda adds softly.

“Okay, wait.” Peter holds up his hands. “If Aldo doesn’t know how your powers work, then why haven’t we used Wanda’s to escape?”

“I did, once,” Wanda replies. She shrugs. “It was my longest time out, but he still found me.”

“Oh.” Peter deflates. “Well, there goes that thought.”

Sam lightly bumps his shoulder with Peter’s. “C’mon, let’s let the women scheme. They’re better at it. I’ll spar with you.”

Peter isn’t sure where they’re being lead, but he has a sinking suspicion. The windows of the car they’re in are dark, even for the sharper eyes of a vampire. Peter can’t see much more than what he believes are trees. He can still hear, though, and he’s able to pick up the sounds of a town they pass through. It doesn’t sound anything like the one he’s been living in for the past year, so his quiet hopes are dashed.

They stop about an hour later. When the doors open, Peter looks around when he sees a small cluster of buildings hidden in the trees. It must be a large coven, if they have their own little village in the middle of the forest.

Peter sticks close to Wanda as they’re lead towards closer. Aldo leads the charge, and it sends people scattering. They’re all in matching guard uniforms: black pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt. While the guards themselves are all wearing long cloaks, the Powerful Five remain in the middle of the cluster without. Even though he knows it’s just his imagination, the collar feels tight and restrictive. The thought of what Aldo desires to do here makes him feel sick.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Aldo’s voice rings loudly throughout the clearing. Anybody who didn’t go running at the sight of Aldo and his guard turn to see what was going on. “I have finally finished my precious collection! I now have a lovely little firekeeper.”

He gestures to Peter, who quickly looks down to avoid meeting his eyes. He feels dirty being there. Every part of him yearns to be back home with Wade.

Aldo laughs, a dark sound that fills the air with an eerie chill. If it was possible, Peter would say that the temperature goes down a few degrees. “I’m here to make the world mine,” he continues. “With the Powerful Five under my rule, no one will be able to stop me!” He snaps his fingers at the group. “Now show them what you can do.”

Peter glances at Carol, who gives him a subtle nod. Peter takes a shaky breath and closes his eyes. It’s part of a ritual he had been hastily taught before they left. If he messes up anything, he has youth and inexperience as an excuse. The others are relying heavily on that.

Opening his eyes, he holds his hands in front of him like he was taught, summoning fire into his palms. The others stand around in a circle with him, doing the same with their own powers. Carol explained to him the night before that when the spell is done correctly, their powers would come together and create a natural disaster to rain upon the area of the coven Aldo wants destroyed. The type of calamity depends on the circumstances of the environment. Since they’re in the woods currently, Peter thinks it may be a forest fire to hit the coven. It can’t be a coincidence that Aldo chose this place first.

Peter watches in amazement as their powers come together to swirl in the middle of the circle. He swallows thickly and meets Wanda’s eyes on the other side. She gives him a quick smile before murmuring the spell under her breath. Peter does the same, hoping he doesn’t mess up the words and shatter the illusion they’re trying hard to keep. Aldo has sharp hearing.

There are screams around them as their powers start to increase. It makes Peter worry that their plan isn’t going to work the way they want it to. Dark clouds cover the sky, a low rumbling nearly making Peter jump out of his skin.

Just when he thinks they failed, something flickers in the middle of their circle. Carol’s wind suddenly goes sporadic, sending a handful of guards standing nearby flying into a nearby shop. The ground under them rumbles, the street cracking in a few places before settling completely. The lanterns hanging nearby explode, sparks flying towards Aldo’s guards. Water spills out of the fountain, flooding the street in an inch layer of water.

The five of them quickly break circle, rushing away along with the rest of the guard. Aldo is shouting orders, but Peter can’t hear them over the pounding in his ears. He spots someone from the coven and hurries towards them.

“I’m so sorry,” he tells her quickly, trying his best to calm her down. “We didn’t want to do this.” He pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. On it is Wade’s name along with an address and a phone number. “Please, I’ve been taken from my coven. Can you please let the person whose name is on here that I’m okay? And that I’m… well I don’t know where I am, but you do. Please?”

The woman’s eyes widen before she’s nodding and accepting the piece of paper.

“Thank you. And once again, I’m sorry.” He gives her a quick smile before hurrying back towards where the others are waiting.

“Were you able to slip someone the paper?” Wanda asks him softly.

Peter nods at her before jumping when Aldo growls loudly. “This is an embarrassment! What’s the point of spending hours of training when you can’t even use your powers correctly?!”

“Peter needs more training, sir,” Carol says quickly. “I assure you, we will spend all free time we can to make sure this incident isn’t repeated.”

“It better not be.” Aldo snaps his fingers at someone. “Make sure this village burns. It’s not the way I wanted this coven to end, but I still need something done about them. And make sure no one leaves!”

Peter panics and risks a glance back towards the young woman he slipped the paper to. He doesn’t see her anywhere, but he doesn’t get a chance to look for her when he’s being forcibly moved back towards the cars.

**~*~**

“Spread your feet apart more. It’ll help you with your balance,” Valkyrie tells him, lightly kicking his foot to the side a bit. “And keep your arm straight when you’re throwing a punch. It gives it more power behind the hit.”

“Aren’t we using swords?” Peter asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, but you need to be prepared in case of anything. Like losing your sword.” Valkyrie gets into position, holding up her own fists. “Alright, c’mon.”

Peter takes a shaky breath, getting into the correct stance. Valkyrie is watching him expectedly, giving his stance a quick once over. Taking another breath, Peter takes a step forward and throws a punch as hard as he can at Valkyrie. She easily sidesteps him and throws her own. Peter barely dodges it and elbows her hard in the gut. Valkyrie’s breath escapes in a rush before she’s making another attack at him, this time managing to get Peter onto the ground.

Though his nose is bleeding, he pays it no mind as he kicks at her gut again and sweeps her down to the ground in the next move. They tussle on the ground before rolling to their feet quickly. Peter’s inexperience quickly catches up to him, and in a moment of panic, he releases a fireball at her and temporarily blinds her. Using it to his advantage, Peter knocks her down before pinning her down with his weight.

“I give,” she says, grinning up at him. “That’s how you use your powers to your advantage, Parker. I’m impressed.”

After they both stand up, the rest of their small group come over. “I think we should be decently prepared now,” Carol states, hands on her hips and looking proud. “You’re best with your sword, but you should be alright if you lose it. Just, you know, try not to.”

Peter laughs, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t plan to, if I can help it. You guys have helped a lot recently. Thank you so much, by the way. I really appreciate all the lessons.”

“We’ll need all hands on deck,” Valkyrie states. “It would be pointless  _ not _ to train you.”

Peter playfully rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Have any of you caught word about Wade and the others coming through?”

“Nothing yet, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Sam says. “If Aldo and co. get caught blindsided, that could help us the most.”

Nodding, Peter sighs softly. “Yeah, just… I’ve been here for two months, and I feel like I’m about to crawl out of my skin from all the waiting.”

“It’ll be worth it, don’t worry.”

As much as he tries, Peter is having a difficult time seeing the end picture ending well for them. During his first week, he tried everything he could to get the stupid tracking collar off of him. It constantly digs into his skin despite being made out of a softer material. For all the time he’s unfortunately been stuck with him, Peter already knows Aldo’s ridiculous standards.

Wanda was the one who told him the collars were enchanted with some sort of spell they haven’t been able to figure out and undo. Annoyingly enough, they can’t go anywhere without the spell shocking them so bad they nearly pass out. Safe to say, they aren’t going anywhere.

It’s another week before they hear anything. They spend most of their free time training. Nowadays, when they aren’t helping Peter, they’re off training on their own. A knot of guilt always seems to find itself in Peter’s throat at the thought of what could potentially happen.

It finally comes to an end when they’re at the main house. Every couple days, Aldo brings them up the house he uses for training with his guards. He never watches any of them, instead locking himself away in his office doing who knows what. Wanda thinks he’s researching more, likely to figure out what went wrong, or looking up different spells to use. The guards always seem a bit bored after working out for a bit and usually leave to do whatever. Usually to play video games.

Wanda and him are discussing the finer details of how her powers work when they hear yelling coming from outside. Peter rushes to the window and can’t help the large grin on his face when he spots Wade amongst the crowd gathered outside. Wade’s coven had apparently rallied the people who survived Aldo’s attack, wanting to seek revenge and take Aldo down.

Instantly, there are archers at their posts, waiting for the order to shoot. Aldo comes rushing from his study to see what all the noise is about. “How did they find us?” he hisses out, storming down towards the front gate. “Rally everybody! I want that coven dead!”

Peter meets Wanda’s eyes and she allows a small smile before they’re being ordered to head outside. Wade looks panicked as he obviously searches for Peter. Peter has to stop himself from running straight towards him. He has to be patient, if they want their plan to work. Granted, Wade and the coven don’t know about their plan, but Peter knows Wade enough to know he’ll trust him no matter what.

“Group spell,” one of the commanders orders, and they’re shoved into the empty space between the groups.

“Don’t need to shove,” Peter mutters. He glances a look over at Wade, and the sheer relief on his face nearly brings Peter to tears.

“Don’t mess this up again or you’ll join the bodies of your stupid little coven,” Aldo snarls at them before heading back into the house.

“Too much of a coward not to join your ranks?” Wade yells. There’s an ‘oomph’ sound after that and when Peter looks over, Wade’s rubbing his stomach from where Vanessa elbowed him.

“I like your mate,” Carol comments.

Peter raises an eyebrow at the phrasing, but doesn’t dwell on it. “Let’s just get this done with.”

They repeat the same process as last time, starting up the spell and waiting for the skies above them to darken; but unlike last time, instead of waiting for something to happen they all aim their individual powers towards something. Sam opens up a cavern around the castle, making leaving it difficult. Valkyrie makes the clouds dump rain down on them, killing the visibility around them. Carol and Peter team up to light the house on fire and make sure it stays mostly burning despite Valkyrie’s rain. She mentioned having the ability to keep things dry, so Peter hopes it works. Peter isn’t sure how Wanda’s powers work, but there’s a flash of purple heading toward Wade and his coven, and he trusts she won’t do anything detrimental to them.

As soon as they can, they’re running towards Wade and their army. Peter doesn’t waste time in pulling Wade into a tight hug, but they can’t keep it for long. Arrows rain down from above them as chaos erupts from within the walls. People pour out and fall into the cavern before realising they will have to risk jumping in order to survive.

They all spring into action then, the clanging of swords soon filling the air. 

Peter’s soaked to the bone, and his moves are sluggish. Not wanting to lose grip of his sword, Peter keeps a small flame on his hands to keep them dry to grip onto the handle. The first time his sword makes contact with one of the enemies, he feels like his arm might vibrate off. They hit a lot harder than the people he trained with.

“I knew recruiting you would be a mistake,” the guy he’s fighting growls. He’s angry enough that his eyes have turned bloodthirsty. Peter’s never seen the look on anyone before, and the deep red shakes him. “Poor little newborn.”

Peter feels like he might collapse under the strain of fighting the guy. “You’re so annoying,” he says, throwing a fireball at him to stun him before taking the butt of his sword and knocking him out. He’ll leave the killing to the others.

There are people and bodies everywhere. Peter doesn’t like thinking about who killed who, and who’s dead. Instead he focuses on whoever needs help, or whoever’s distracted and open for an attack. On occasion, he’ll check to make sure the house fire is still going.

“You!” is the only warning he gets before he’s knocked onto the ground, losing his grip on his sword. Aldo is pinning him down, snarling above him. The sword in Aldo’s hand has a sharp blade, and it’s quickly closing in on Peter’s throat. Peter barely has enough time to stop it with his hands, screaming as it digs into his skin. “I knew you were going to be the cause of my destruction.”

“No, that was your own greed,” Peter snarls back. The cut on his palms is slowly going deeper the more Aldo presses the blade down on him. It’s getting dangerously close to his throat now. “Get off!”

With more strength than he knew he had, Peter headbutts Aldo. It gives him enough space to wiggle out from under him, grabbing his fallen sword on the way. Though his hands are bleeding profusely, he still summons a large fireball and throws it right at Aldo.

“How’d you even get out of your house? Made your guards carry you out of the flames?” Peter taunts. He swallows thickly when he sees Aldo raising his sword. “Can’t do anything for yourself. I bet you don’t even know how to use that.”

Aldo roars and charges at him. Peter blocks the swing and kicks Aldo in the knee. He takes a step back before taking his own swipe at Aldo. He only gets a cut on Aldo’s cheek before the man’s scrambling back.

“I should’ve known you’d be a hassle from the moment I saw you.” Aldo manages to cut Peter on the stomach, a long line that’s instantly bleeding. “I’m going to take great pleasure in killing you and your coven.”

There’s a shout from nearby, and Peter whips his head around just in time to see a sword go through Wade’s shoulder. 

He suddenly sees red, snarling loud enough to attract the attention of everybody nearby. Injury be damned, Peter lunges at Aldo and knocks his sword out of his hand with one hit. He quickly sets fire to his own blade before swinging it again.

After a quick kick to the gut, Peter swipes at him again and again, cutting at any part he can reach even as Aldo scurries away. He’s sure his eyes are bright red from the way Aldo’s cowering.

“Touch my coven again, and I’ll personally make sure you’re dead,” Peter tells him tensely. “Touch my  _ mate _ and I’ll be the one swinging the sword.”

“Do you really believe mere words will stop me?” Aldo chuckles darkly. “You are a fool. A child in adult’s clothing. I will make sure Wade is dead by the end of the year, and no amount of pretty words will stop me.”

Peter clenches his jaw. He feels something in him burning that isn’t his own powers. No… it’s anger.  _ Frustration _ . All this time spent preparing would go to waste. All the anger, the hurt, the running around. It would become pointless. Meaningless.

With a loud snarl, Peter takes his sword and shoves it deep into Aldo’s chest. “You will  _ never _ touch my mate,” he growls out, eyes blood red as Aldo gasps in pain.

When Aldo stills completely, Peter backs off, removing the sword from his chest. Letting out a shaky breath, he looks up when he notices the stillness in the air. It’s still raining heavily, but Aldo’s men either retreated or are dead. They must’ve seen Peter and Aldo, and turned tail and ran.

“Baby boy?”

Peter nearly drops his sword when he hears Wade’s voice. “Wade, fuck,” he breaths out, hurrying over. “Your arm—”

“Will heal,” Wade finishes. His whole expression is soft as he looks at Peter. It makes his heart race in his chest. “Bambi, I was so scared. I just need to hold you.”

Peter easily falls into Wade’s arms, this time letting his sword fall to the ground. “Wade, I’m sorry. I didn’t want any of you to get hurt at the house, so I thought—”

“Shh.” Wade runs a hand through Peter’s curls and the younger melts against his chest. “I know, sunshine. I’m not mad. Finding your necklace out there in the woods was one of the worst feelings.”

“I’m sorry, Wade.” Peter pulls back just enough to kiss Wade. It’s messy and desperate, but Peter’s never felt better. “I probably bothered the others with all of my moping.”

Wade laughs softly, gently running his thumb over Peter’s cheek. “Human or vampire, you’re still so gorgeous.”

Laughing softly, Peter pulls Wade in for another kiss. “I wanted you to change me,” he playfully complains against Wade’s lips.

Pressing one more kiss to Peter’s lips, Wade pulls back completely. Peter makes a wounded noise, but Wade’s quick to shush him. He pulls out the necklace and his boyfriend beams.

“God, I’ve felt so naked without this.” Peter stands still as Wade clips it back around his neck. It clashes a bit with the collar that’s still stuck around his neck, but he knows that with the coven here now they’ll be able to get it off soon enough. Logan’s one of the best when it comes to spells.

“Mmm, I wouldn’t mind seeing that,” Wade says, pressing a kiss to the back of Peter’s neck just above the collar. Based on Wade’s hesitant touch on the leather, he’s shaken just seeing it.

“Don’t be gross.” Thankfully, Vanessa is strolling up and pulls Peter into a hug. “It’s nice to see you in one piece. Wade wouldn’t stop whining and moping.”

“Oh, so you were experiencing it, too?” Wanda asks, laughing. The air feels lighter from the slight tension of Wade seeing the collar. “It was like watching a teen romance movie.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Peter says with a pout.

Wanda playfully rolls her eyes, but smiles as Wade pulls Peter back towards him. “I love you,” he whispers into Peter’s hair.

“I love you, too,” Peter replies, grinning madly.

“True mates are so disgusting,” Vanessa complains.

“Is anyone going to tell me what that means?” Peter asks with a pout.

Wade chuckles softly, pressing a kiss to Peter’s temple. “We have all the time in the world to explain everything to you, baby.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments are much appreciated!! 💛
> 
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